Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: A WOUNDED FAWN [Tribeca Film Festival 2022 - Virtual]
The ideal of misdirect right off the bat is always a good sign depending if the texture of what is being shown adds to the dynamic of the narrative being driven home. "The Wounded Fawn" [Midnight] has the idea of showing the unnerving breakdown inside the mind of a serial killer but the tone in much of the film goes a little bit towards performance art than a sense of dread and horror. Even with films with a texture of comedy ("Fresh" which played Sundance is a good comparison), the tone can be quite tricky. The casting here is pretty good but using Josh Ruben (who directed the interesting "Werewolves Within) as the lead is almost a stunt that (while good at times) seems more of an inside joke. Director Travis Stevens made the moderately successful (critically) film that played SxSW a couple years ago called "The Girl On The Third Floor"). That film too had some issues with structure.
Sarah Lind plays Meredith here (as the secondary focus of Ruben) and there seems to be so much more to work with her in terms of the story. There are bits of mental coolness which incapsulated a serial killer losing his mind. She is key to that but it becomes lost in the 3rd act. The lurid imagery in the woods that Ruben as Bruce encapsulates is schizophrenic but weirdly performance art with a funky twist. The motivations of the beast that controls Bruce (as it would be) are funneled through the idea of a piece of sculpture which becomes the ironic set piece for the entire film. Bruce is a man who just wants to connect but the demon in his head (which is encapsulated in a neat "Evil Dead" moment) won't let him go. Ultimately though the comeuppance is a bit far-fetched. Midnight movies do push this kind of boundary because of inherently what they are but sometimes the disconnect is a bit too much and it can't live up to its potential. In this kind of moment, it becomes self-indulgent (which the last shot despite its irony fully embraces). C
By Tim Wassberg
