The Wind

Name: The Wind
Genre: Horror, Western
Released: April 5, 2019
Duration: 86 min
Rating: 66
Cast: Ashley Zukerman, Caitlin Gerard, Dylan McTee, Julia Goldani Telles, Martin C Patterson

2019

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Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Ratings

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6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Ratings

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The Wind: Knock At The Door

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Midnight | Release Date: April 5, 2019 | NR

Starring: Ashley Zukerman, Caitlin Gerard, Dylan McTee, Julia Goldani Telles, Martin C Patterson, Martin Patterson, Miles Anderson

Summary: Lizzy (Caitlin Gerard) is a tough, resourceful frontierswoman settling a remote stretch of land on the 19th-century American frontier. Isolated from civilization in a desolate wilderness where the wind never stops howling, she begins to sense a sinister presence that seems to be borne of the land itself, an overwhelming dread that herLizzy (Caitlin Gerard) is a tough, resourceful frontierswoman settling a remote stretch of land on the 19th-century American frontier. Isolated from civilization in a desolate wilderness where the wind never stops howling, she begins to sense a sinister presence that seems to be borne of the land itself, an overwhelming dread that her husband (Ashley Zukerman) dismisses as superstition. When a newlywed couple arrives on a nearby homestead, their presence amplifies Lizzy’s fears, setting into motion a shocking chain of events. [IFC Films]… Expand

Director: Emma Tammi

Genre(s): Horror, Western

Rating: NR

Runtime: 86 min

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Critic Reviews

100

G. Allen Johnson

Apr 3, 2019

This doesn’t have the budget or the marketing push of “Pet Sematary,” the other horror film out this week, but The Wind has a boldness and imagination that transcends such limitations. This is indie horror at its best. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Simon Abrams

Apr 5, 2019

The resulting episodic narrative is light on dialogue and heavy on ambiance; it's precise to an unsettling degree since a number of scenes start and stop whenever Lizzy can feel her way in and out of them. Read full review

Noel Murray

Apr 4, 2019

The Wind is ultimately more allegorical than literal. It’s not about history, or pioneer life, or bloodthirsty ghosts. It’s about a loneliness so overwhelming that it becomes terrifying. Read full review

Jessica Kiang

Mar 8, 2019

Horror hounds may find themselves getting a little impatient with “The Wind,” especially when Tammi begins on such an unflinchingly nasty note ... but then elects to keep the gore to a minimum until the grisly climax. The film is much more successful, however, as a feminized reworking of the western mythos. Read full review

Chris Nashawaty

Apr 6, 2019

The moments that work the best are the ones where Tammi lets the pace and pulse slow down, lets the ominous wind whistle and groan, and it isn’t trying to turn The Wind into Meek’s Cutoff as interpreted by the director of Insidious. Read full review

Jeannette Catsoulis

Apr 5, 2019

The movie’s most striking aspect, though, is Lyn Moncrief’s arresting cinematography, which turns the vast vacancy of the plains into both hostile observer and hellish metaphor. The story might finally slip its leash, but the baleful mood holds firm. Read full review

The Playlist Victor Stiff

Mar 8, 2019

The Wind still checks enough of the right boxes to please horror fans; it’s creepy, features some gruesome images, and has a couple standout scares. This film also has its share of flaws; it’s held back by some pacing issues and weak performances. Read full review

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User Reviews

Bertaut1

Apr 10, 2019

Very well made and genuinely creepy socio-political allegory

The Wind is ostensibly a horror movie about a woman being terrorised by a demon on the American frontier. Or is it a study of prairie madness? Or is it a metaphorical examination of the mindset of a less enlightened time? AVery well made and genuinely creepy socio-political allegory

The Wind is ostensibly a horror movie about a woman being terrorised by a demon on the American frontier. Or is it a study of prairie madness? Or is it a metaphorical examination of the mindset of a less enlightened time? A fiercely feminist appropriation of that most masculine of genres - the western - it deals with traditionally gendered themes such as frontier domesticity and postpartum depression, remaining always within the genre's paradigms, even whilst challenging many of that genre's most fundamental tropes. Beak and pared back, it's one of those films whose lack of budget works in its favour. A slow-burner that relies on shadows and sound effects, it's built on atmosphere, tone, and escalating psychological dread. The debut film from director Emma Tammi, the film is adapted by Teresa Sutherland from Dorothy Scarborough's 1925 novel. Set somewhere on the New Mexican frontier in the late 19th century, it is structured achronologically, and tells the story of Lizzy Macklin (Caitlin Gerard), who lives with her husband Isaac (Ashley Zukerman) in an isolated cabin on the prairie, from which he is absent for weeks at a time. As the film intercuts the present with the past, it reveals that another couple - Gideon (Dylan McTee) and Emma (Julia Goldani Telles) - purchased the only other cabin within walking distance. However, after Emma got pregnant, she became convinced an evil entity was stalking her. Meanwhile, in the present, Lizzy begins to feel that that same entity is now haunting her. But is she correct, or is she suffering from the same delusion as Emma?

The Wind hits the ground running with a downright ballsy dialogue-free opening scene. With the as yet unintroduced Isaac and Gideon standing outside the Macklin cabin, Lizzy emerges, her white dress soaked in blood, carrying the lifeless body of a newborn baby. Shot by Lyn Moncrief using an extremely cold colour palette of muted blues and whites, the red of the blood really pops, driving home the visceral (and all too real) horror of whatever has just happened.

This scene occurs at roughly the mid-way point of the story, as the film uses a non-linear narrative structure, out of which Tammi gets a lot of mileage, forcing the audience to question the order and significance of seemingly inconsequential events. The fact that we are often uncertain as to exactly where we are in the timeline also mirrors Lizzy's own uncertainty regarding what's happening to Emma, and ultimately, what's happening to herself.

From an aesthetic point of view, as the film progresses, and we get deeper and deeper into Lizzy's psychosis/haunting, Moncrief shoots the initially vast-open plains in such a way as to become increasingly claustrophobic - there are more scenes at night; there are fewer high-elevation shots; the skies become more oppressive; there are more tightly-framed interiors. So although the characters are out in the open, they are very much imprisoned by their environment.

Especially important in the film's atmosphere is Juan Campos's exceptional sound design, as gunshots, slammed doors, and screams deafeningly pierce the silence without warning. Particularly of note is the sound of the wind itself, which is normal enough to be recognisable, but unusual enough to be unsettling; is that a voice drifting across the plains, or is it a trick of the senses? This works in tandem with Moncrief's excellent use of shadows to suggest a horror that's always just slightly off-camera. Is there literally a demon stalking Lizzy, or has the stress of isolation pushed her over the edge into psychosis?

Tammi's main thematic preoccupation is a metaphorical examination of a pre-#MeToo era and its concomitant mindset - a powerful monster targets a vulnerable woman, terrorising her with impunity, whilst the man in her life doesn't believe her. The film very clearly shows that Lizzy suffers almost as much from the fact that Isaac doesn't believe her as she does from her conviction in the presence of the demon. That the film is a feminised appropriation of the western mythos serves to drive home the allegorical nature of the story. Lizzy is, on the surface, a stock character - "the wife", the one who looks after the home whilst the men are out doing manly things. So the fact that she may be mentally ill is not something about which Isaac concerns himself; mental illness or not, her role is to maintain the home. And the crucial point here is that Isaac isn't a bad husband; he's just very much of his era.

The Wind is an extremely impressive horror-western. But it's an even more impressive study of isolation and (possible) psychological disintegration. Genuinely creepy in places, Tammi and her crew have created an exceptionally well-crafted film rich in feminist connotations all the while remaining faithful to a genre not known for its nuanced depictions of women.… Expand