Throughout history, one thing humans have never quite been able to master is something we probably should have by now: managing the emotional relationships of real and chosen family. Since the dawn of time, we have struggled to understand one another despite our similarities and shared desire for survival as a species. Writer/director G.S. Foxwood’s WILD EYED AND WICKED masterfully explores the relationships we choose and the ones we choose to maintain, often seeking advice from our heroes of the past on our own journeys.
WILD EYED AND WICKED centers around Lily, played by the incredible Molly Kunz, and the major relationships in her life; her relationship with her new girlfriend Willow (Claire Saunders), her estranged father Gregory (Michael Sommers), new friends (William Ford-Conway), and most importantly her relationship with herself as she navigates processing her grief surrounding the tragic death of her mother and making friends in a fast paced and unpredictable modern world. She finds solace in the activities she loved as a child, like fencing, epic stories of knights, and identifying bird calls, but also indulges in modern pleasures such as dancing to club music on portable speakers and texting with her girlfriend. Lily’s body language alone serves as a sort of caller ID for the viewer – it is immediately apparent which of the cast she is speaking to, often before she even accepts a phone call.
Lily is understandably confused by Willow’s unconditional support, as everyone in her life who was supposed to be there for her has abandoned her. Her partner is present and encouraging, something Lily is clearly lacking outside the professional setting of her therapy sessions. Her therapist Genevieve (Colleen Camp) helps her navigate through her major life decisions and her deep-seated trauma stemming from her mother’s physical absence and her father’s emotional one. WILD EYED AND WICKED navigates these issues well and offers a refreshingly normal and realistic view of relationships, especially queer relationships. The banter and intimacy between Lily and Willow is artfully written and expertly portrayed onscreen by Kunz and Saunders. It is a delight to watch the natural chemistry between the two actors for two strong heroines in one epic story, just in time for Pride Month.
The relationships with Lily’s chosen family are realistic, as are the relationships between our hero and her biological family. When faced with truths he can’t stand to face, Lily’s father Gregory immediately changes the subject. He can force himself to ask the questions he knows a father is supposed to ask, but he can’t handle the answers. Always the defender of the right and just, Lily cannot stand by a person who doesn’t live by a code they have sworn to. She offers no mercy when she faces her enemies. Lily’s parents are the foundation of herself and everything she knows, but of her parents she finds she knows very little. As a child her mother helped inspire her hopes and dreams, and as an adult she does the same, while also being a source of guilt and shame. Wracked with trauma and the guilt inflicted upon her by her father, Lily’s pain and longing manifest into a monster that predates any ghost story. The loss of a loved one and the resulting pain and anguish can create a creature that could overpower even the mightiest warrior. As Lily fights her mother’s demons, she also fights her own.
Lily’s mother instilled her love for knights and everything medieval from a very young age. Her mother tells a young Lily the story of Martha. This story is significant and well placed, as Martha is a biblical figure who is correctly illustrated as a technical knight who followed the code of chivalry to fight and kill a dragon-like creature with her brother, the recently resurrected Lazarus, and the villagers of the town. Armed with both their simple weapons and the most powerful weapon of all: vengeful rage, Martha and the villagers kill the dragon that murdered their friends. Lily doesn’t admire Martha’s act of bringing civilians into her own fight, a belief she holds strongly throughout her story. She instead favors the Frankish military leader Roland and the mythical knight Galahad, who bested his father Lancelot and went on to become the best knight of all history in the search for the Holy Grail. While Lily might not know it yet, the story of Martha would end up being similar to her own in more ways than one.
As we follow Lily’s journey, we can see how pain can manifest much like a demon – it can multiply over generations as it infects more people and multiplies its power. Lily knows she will have to continue fighting this battle, even after she slays the demon haunting her family for generations. By the end of Lily’s journey however, she finally finds strength as she looks to the one place she has struggled with for guidance: the present, and her future with the ones she chooses to hold close.
WILD EYED AND WICKED is on VOD starting June 11, 2024 from Gravitas Ventures
Tags: Claire Saunders, Colleen Camp, G.S. Foxwood, LGBTQIA+ horror, Michael Sommers, Molly Kunz, Queer Horror, Wild Eyed and Wicked, William Ford-Conway
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