Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: GLORIOUS [Fantasia International Film Festival 2022 - Virtual]

The element of fate or at least the necessity of it in determining path can be an interesting quandary. In “Glorious” [Official Selection], Wes (Ryan Kwanten) is at the end of his rope but his reality is bathed either in what he did or did not do, his mistakes or his weaknesses causing the break-up of his relationship or his sanity. The film is in many ways a study of self in a limbo of normality. Setting the stage in a rest stop bathroom might seem tricky but the assumptions and the irony of such a space being a crux point is actually a good challenge in many ways. The set up, as it is, in what leads Wes to this path is a little flimsy and cryptic to be sure but is mostly structured as almost a Shakespearean character piece where the lead is doomed to his own ignorance.

Kwanten knows the ins and out of Wes' personality for sure and as the notes are revealed by the character in the next stall (played by JK Simmons in an interesting approach), the realization of the selection becomes a little clearer. To give away any more in the structure of the film would give away its McGuffin. Suffice to say in that lane per se, it is about the idea of perspective but how the layout of a life can really seem different from the outside looking in (as it always is). Wes finds himself in this space/prison for a reason and, for all his intelligence and would-be empathy, he can't quite find an exit since there might not be one. The texture of the ironic humor is what keeps the film from becoming downtrodden in itself. The notion that certain points of authority can get the joke balances empathy with a viciousness. It is a weird but effective motif and creates a false sense of hope which, as we watch Wes' path, shows he might be understanding but that it may be too late already. B

By Tim Wassberg