Movie Review: Wretch (2019)

April 26, 2020

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Nat Harris (Martin L. Washington Jr.), recently sober, is about to rethink that posish as without the booze he begins to see all of the harrowing hallucinations that have plagued his ass for years. Along with that, Nat’s boyfriend Adam has got the full-blown cancer, and is positive he’s going to buy the farm despite Nat’s protestations.

Enter: Jean Alexander (Shannon Conley) who owns the hippy-dippy vegan restaurant where Nat works. Speaking of ol’ Joltin’ Jean, she believes our hero has spiritual gifts, and should learn the occult healing juju she’s balls deep into, which is taught by ol’ mystic Pete (Joe Rooney).

Long story short; Nat hits the sauce, decides to takes Jean up on her offer, and goes full-on seizure mode in Jean’s basement altar… which is as creepy as it sounds. Soon Nat and Jean press on, and with Pete’s help travel the road of suburban basement majik that results in a drug-fueled world of surreal insanity… but will Nat have the spiritual balls to survive the journey to heal his lover?

Well, ol’ Wretch is one hell of a strange piece of whacked-out cinema, let me tell you boils n’ ghouls. With it’s reliance on metaphysical practices, stoner rituals, and violent physical reactions, this piece is a welcome diversion from the fun witchcraft found in most Hollywood fare; this is earthy, nasty, physical ceremony; and it seems all the more believable because of it’s corporeal presentation… the fantastic made grounded… a core concept of the film that makes it stand head and shoulders above the pack in the “Let’s use magic to solve our problems” horror sub-genre popularized by flicks like The Craft.

This of course results in a great deal of gravitas that takes a lot of the “fantasy fun” away from the proceedings, but that is precisely what makes Wretch so refreshing… it presents the fantastic as real, so anything that happens to Nat due to his dabbling in the arcane that much more impactful.

Adding to the positives is a great “small town horror” vibe that truly resonates with your’s cruelly… a mother fucker that grew up in a small mountain town where superstition and adherence to “the old ways” still head sway. If you have that bit of biz in your background; this piece will resonate all the more true.

On the more traditional front; the strong lead performances from Washington Jr., Conley, and Rooney are absolutely remarkable, and the visual eye of first-time feature director Matthew Dunehoo (who also wrote the film) is rock-solid.

To sum up; Wretch is a disturbing, yet fascinating, deep-dive into basement majik and all of the consequences of practicing said dark arts… while still being an engaging character piece. I loved this nice slice of preternatural pie, and I wager you lot will too!

 

 

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