Movie Review: A WOUNDED FAWN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: December 2nd, 2022 / 02:40 PM

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Josh Ruben, Sarah Lind, Malin Barr, Katie Kuang, Tanya Everett, Laksmi Hedermark, Marshall Taylor Thurman, Neal Mayer, Nikki James, Leandro Taub
Writers: Travis Stevens & Nathan Faudree
Director: Travis Stevens
Distributor: Shudder
Release Date: December 1, 2022 (Shudder)

Deer lovers will be relieved to hear that the title of A WOUNDED FAWN comes from a line of poetry. There are no wounded animals of any kind in the film, though there are several extremely mutilated people.

The film opens at the auction of a sculpture depicting “The Wrath of the Erinyes,” aka the Eumenides, aka the Furies, standing over a cowering man. For those unfamiliar with Greek and Roman mythology, the auctioneer (a smooth Neal Mayer) explains these are goddesses of vengeance who punish men, especially those who transgress against women.

This doesn’t come as news to Bruce (Josh Ruben), an art connoisseur himself. Bruce is a serial killer who hallucinates seeing a giant red-lit owl man (Marshall Taylor Thurman) every time he feels the compulsion to murder.

You’d think someone with Bruce’s issues wouldn’t want to tempt Fate (or at least his subconscious) by stealing such a statue, but he does.

Bruce invites museum employee Meredith (Sarah Lind) to spend the weekend at his isolated home in the woods. Meredith is recovering from an abusive relationship, but she doesn’t want her past to cast a shadow over her future. Besides, Bruce seems really nice.

Bruce calls his place a cabin, but it’s really an upscale single-level house, meticulously decorated, with no rustic touches. Shortly after he and Meredith arrive at this bastion of contemporary civilization amid the trees, Meredith starts hearing and seeing things. And then …

A WOUNDED FAWN is broken into a prologue and two acts. The first act is more or less normal cat-and-mouse drama with a few hints of the supernatural, and the second is surreal, bloody, and bonkers.

Director Travis Stevens and his co-writer Nathan Faudree combine a contemporary thriller with not only Greek mythology but some ancient Greek theater-style set pieces and a generous dash of folk horror. The visuals are striking and eerie. The central sculpture, made in reality by Charlie Becker, is truly evocative – it doesn’t take much for us to believe it has power of its own.

Ruben pulls off a bravura turn as a man who can effectively charm sophisticated women, as a cunning predator, as someone who really sees a towering owl-man, and as the person he becomes in the second act.

Lind gives Meredith intelligence, strength, and charisma, and Malin Barr does a fine job will all aspects of her multi-faceted role.

At the very end, the filmmakers decide on a single interpretation of what we’re watching, which feels a little unnecessary. Some movies do better without ambiguity, but it seems like it would have been appropriate for A WOUNDED FAWN. Still, it’s heady, bold, and assuredly its own film, not a retread of something else.

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