Wild Faith

Released March 2016, Wild Faith follows Civil War veteran Emmett as he struggles to care for the black wife and daughter of his fallen war comrade. With the varied cast of the film, there is a plethora of ideas to explore in the post-war nation; so how does it do? Unfortunately, there is great tonal problems throughout the narrative with little cohesion between them. On the jarring comedic side we have the antagonist frontier-folks who are all good in their performances, albeit lacking individuality amongst the group. Greg Mason’s Uncle McKinney is of a similar comedic tone with his interactions and mannerisms towards his dialogue.

Whilst far more comedic than most other characters, including the aforementioned, DJ Perry gives civil war veteran turned hunter Ben Lily such strong charisma and charm that not only are his comedic moments more natural but also less jarring when it suddenly gets serious. Shane Hagedorn gives protagonist Emmett the necessary groundwork to make his character believable with little more than that; similar can be said for half-native hunter Hester. As is common with child actors, Xylia Jenkins and Joey Cipriano as Grace and Henry, respectively, are generally quite weak; notably Cipriano in his delivery by overplaying a higher pitch. On the note of over-acting, Lauren LaStrada is definitely one of the stronger cast members, however, she does act astronomically melodramatic in moments of hysteria.

For the five shots that visual effects are used, it is particularly noticeable that the effects aren’t in their setting and it really sucks the tension that should have been built by what the effects were trying to make. Unfortunately, the soundtrack is also not only unmemorable but also unsuitable in many scenes which make use of it. This clashing tone from the soundtrack ultimately summarises Wild Faith; a film with different tones and ideas clashing to little avail therefore making it generally unmemorable.