Review of Wild Indian (2021) by Livinmediocre — 17 Nov 2021

WILD INDIAN is a film about the different paths that arise for people after experiencing traumatic events in their childhood.

I really loved the concept, but ultimately I feel like it falls a bit flat. It starts very strong, but I think otherwise fails as a character study, and I didn’t really feel anything for Makwa, any sort of relief or regret of what he did. He shows that of course, but again, did I feel it? Not really. Ted-o I think was a really interesting character that I wish we could have dived more into. I would have loved to see maybe more of his downfall.

The story references and tries to mirror the story of Cain and Abel, which I think is a really interesting way to take a story like this, and I like that side of the film a lot. It’s just focused on so little unfortunately and is quickly forgotten, similar to the flashback images at the start and end of the film.

Overall, I think the cinematography by Eli Born is beautiful, as well as the dark brooding score by Gavin Brivik. There’s so much here that you can like, but I think there’s also reasons why not to. But really I think the most distracting/disappointing part was Jesse Eisenberg. I love Jesse, don’t get me wrong. I think he’s great in everything I’ve seen him in. But the presence of him being in a total of like 3 minutes of the film, seems like a bit of a miscast.

The director and writer, Lyle Corbine, seems that he has a lot going for him and he should definitely have your sights on him for the future.