Hannam’s characters are full-bodied, complex, and rich in intersectional discussions of the nature of cultural identity, belonging, and sexual orientation. Wildhood arrives in UK cinemas and on digital from September 2nd.
Based on his 2019 short film Wildfire, director Bretten Hannam transforms his original twelve-minute film about a Mi’kmaw runaway into a visually stunning feature-length exploration of adolescent love, cultural belonging, discovery, and escape. It would be easy to label Wildhood a classic coming-of-age road trip movie. However, Hannam’s film transcends the boundaries of the road trip coming-of-age drama by weaving in a rich tapestry of themes, from reclaimed cultural identities to intersectionality and family breakdown as a young man escapes his violent and brutal family home with his younger brother in tow.
Link (Phillip Lewitski) is a two-spirit young man living a life of poverty with his younger brother Travis (Avery Winters-Anthony) in a family home where physical abuse, alcoholism and crime go hand in hand. But when Link discovers his father (Joel Thomas Hynes) has been hiding the truth about his absent mother, whom he claimed was dead, Link escapes his oppressive home life with his young brother in tow. His mission is simple: find his mum and reconnect with his Mi’kmaw heritage.
However, as they embark on their journey with no money to their name, Link and Travis quickly realise their journey will be far more complex than they initially thought, with only a birthday card and an incomplete address to guide them. As they navigate Nova Scotia with hope quickly running out, they meet Pasmay (Joshua Odjick), a young Mi’kmaw drifter and dancer who offers to help. But Pasmay also offers Link a bond of love, companionship and care he has never experienced before, as his journey becomes a voyage of discovery, love and reclaimed identity.
Through his two lead characters, Hannam explores differing experiences of acceptance, oppression and cultural belonging. For Link, his sexual orientation is never hidden, but his ability to live and love freely is wrapped in the trauma of his upbringing and the violence he has suffered; his sexuality and cultural identity are held hostage by a home life where violence is the norm. Meanwhile, Pasmay has a strong sense of cultural belonging that Link desires but feels alienated from. In essence, Link and Pasmy are two sides of the same coin, both unlocking doors that have remained closed and barred during their young lives.
For Pasmay, Link is the love he has been denied and the healing he needs as a fellow Mi’kmaw stands by his side in defiance of community homophobia. At the same time, for Link, Pasmay is the door to inclusion, security and cultural belonging. It is here that Wildhood offers us something unique, fresh, and beautiful in the genre. Unlike many similar films, Hannam’s characters are full-bodied, complex, and rich in intersectional discussions of the nature of cultural identity, belonging, and sexual orientation. Key to these discussions are the outstanding performances of Lewitski, Winters-Anthony and Odjick, with each offering a level of authenticity and realism rarely found.
Hannam avoids the pitfalls of transforming a short film into a feature-length movie by maintaining a sharp, focused pace, even as it incorporates regular moments of silence and reflection. A real standout is Guy Godfree’s cinematography, which elevates Wildhood through detailed close-ups that chart the emotional journey of all three boys as freedom, oppression, hope, and love collide on the road to rebirth. The result is a stunning yet delicate journey into cultural belonging, first love, and acceptance that shines from its opening scenes to its final moments.
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