Image Courtesy of B22
Brett Bentman continues to evolve as one of Texas' most
prolific independent auteurs. His films cover all genres: Emotional
family dramas, gritty neo-noir crime stories, westerns, and even high concept
science fiction. His latest offering is perhaps his most personal,
rivaling 90 Feet From Home and Buckskin as one of the most
emotional and impactful entries in his filmography. Featuring an
unforgettable pair of performances, an intense, genre blurring script, and
Bentman's patented sense of mortality, The Wolf is one of the best films
of the year thus far.
Arawn is a hunter who is conscripted by various law enforcement officers,
private ranchers, and Native American tribes to track and slay wolves who prey
on livestock and people. When he is hired to track a vicious,
maneater, the traumas of his past come to roost in a desolate forest where the
concepts of faith, life, and death are in turmoil and the hunter becomes the
hunted. One of the most striking aspects of this film is Bentman's
script. While the bulk of the story is essentially a one-man chamber
piece, it is bookended by two scenes with exceptionally strong dialogue.
Blaine Hall stars as Arawn, his first his exchange with Bentman regular Tom
Zembrod, sets the tone of what is to follow. The intriguing
undercurrent of The Wolf is the opposing forces of the renewing
power of faith versus an ever-present existential dread symbolized in the Wolf,
and the introductory scene perfectly encapsulates this.
Hall is supported by Chandler Ryan, who portrays Arawn's wife. Serving as
more of an antagonist, Ryan's chemistry with Hall is palpable, infusing the
relationship with a sense of dread and despair that eclipses even the danger of
the wolf. The question as to the nature of Ryan's character is left to
interpretation, another Bentman's trademark that hearkens back to Buckskin,
creating an ethereal purgatory in which the hard choices of reality always have
a toll. Rounding out the cast is Osage tribe member Damon Waters.
His scene with Hall is the second bookend, perfectly summating the crucible
that Arawn has gone through and the dialogue between the two is perfectly
subdued, yet hopeful.
The final piece is Bentman co-conspirator Anthony Gutierrez, whose elegiac
cinematography offsets the dark underpinnings with bright shots of the
forest. Light is manipulated to give everything an almost dreamlike haze,
harmonizing with the tone of Bentman's design. The result is a
psychological nightmare that rips through the soft veneer whenever the past or
the wolf strikes, allowing the viewer to live the trauma along with Arawn.
Coming too soon to digital on demand, The Wolf is a triumph. It is
one of the greatest joys to watch an artist improve in their craft.
Bentman and his team continue to hone their skills and deliver engaging
stories, the common thread of which is the human experience. His latest
offering is a harrowing sojourn into bereavement that manages to both terrify
and endear, a feat that is emblematic of this talented team's evolution.
-Kyle Jonathan