A tragic event in the late 1800s makes a woman unable to distinguish what is real from what isn’t in a secluded house on the Western frontier.
The opening sequence’s protracted shots, the abrupt cuts, the non-linear narrative, and the soundtrack that accompanies them are elements of indie films that, when used appropriately, can tell a story in an unconventional way that has the potential to defy the usual Hollywood standards (clichés). The Wind starts that way, and its plot unfolds in three different timelines. Even though dissimilar in duration, their forceful impact leaves a mark for various reasons.
How that impact will affect us is subjective, so as objectively as humanly possible, I will only comment on the filmmaking techniques and metaphors they carry. Apart from the techniques mentioned above, the Dutch angles (diagonal shots), certain jump scares, and when and how the flashbacks are used add to the film’s quality and make you contemplate what is happening and when it is happening as the story progresses. The Wind is the feature debut of director Emma Tammi and writer Teresa Sutherland, who both bring to life a Western/horror that is not cut and dry. Is it metaphysical? Is it paranormal? Is it psychological? It will inevitably confuse you, but simultaneously, it will intrigue you, make you think twice, and question everything you will have seen until the end credits start rolling down. Caitlin Gerard, Ashley Zukerman, Julia Goldani Telles, and Dylan McTee believe in Tammi’s vision and deliver convincing performances, but most credits have to go to Gerard for carrying the horror on her shoulders.
For no specific reason, I had high hopes about this one, and, in the end, I loved it. The open ending leaves numerous possibilities for interpretation, and you may switch your TV off, but your mind will want to reexamine the scattered clues left for you from beginning to end. The Wind is a low-budget film that incredibly utilises every penny invested in it. A must-watch for every mind-bending horror fan out there.
Please review the separate section below for spoilers. Read it only after you watch it!
P.S. Think carefully about which “tragic event” I refer to in the logline.
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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
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SPOILER ALERT!
The clues that will potentially help you make up your mind or at least point you in the right direction are the following:
- Maybe she lost a child, maybe she didn’t.
- Her washing line has only women’s clothing – maybe she never had a husband, or if she did, it was before her journey there.
- Similarly, the reverent may have never visited her. She didn’t know him even though he was (probably) the first person she met upon arriving there – he gave her the demon booklet.
- Respectively, maybe the neighbours never existed, and they all were people she may have met on her way there and fictitiously constructed stories about them.
- Incidents that further indicate that she is not mentally well are the following: The goat and the wolves pose an equal threat to her, she carries a particular drug (opioid?) in a box that comes in frequently handy, and in the end, she is not stabbed, then seen on a bed in the middle of nowhere, and then on the ground.
You can approach it, I believe, in two ways:
1. By explaining it similarly to other American early-settlement mysteries, such as the lost colony of Roanoke Island.
2. As one oneiric (dreamy, even though “nightmarish” might be more appropriate) sequence of a woman who succumbed to her mental traumas, and loneliness and isolation only unbearably added to her unfathomable pain. Having said that, she maybe even never made it to any house, suffering on her own, constantly descending to paranoia, in the middle of nowhere.
