The Wind is a suspenseful Western thriller

IFC Films

A psychological horror film set in the Western frontier of the late 1800s is not something you see every day. Most modern horror films are set in present day and take place inside a haunted house. This isn’t the case for The Wind, directed by Emma Tammi, which focuses on a resourceful plains-woman who faces the harshness and isolation of her untamed land. Caitlin Gerard plays Lizzy Macklin, a young wife who lives with her husband Isaac. She is often left alone for weeks at a time when he leaves to get food. During that time, she is struggling with a failed pregnancy as well as loneliness. The film mixes the past of Lizzy’s life when she met a young couple who moved in next door and the present where Lizzy feels an entity that haunted the young couple in the past.

If you are looking for a fast-paced horror movie with a lot of gore, this isn’t for you. The Wind is a slow burning psychological film that deals with the trauma of a failed pregnancy as well as loneliness. I didn’t know what to expect going into The Wind and I am glad I didn’t read much about the movie. What I found most unsettling about this movie is how the isolation of the open land affects Lizzy. She is convinced that there is something in the wind that has haunted her neighbors and now her. Her husband Isaac doesn’t believe that something is in the wind, which prompts her to go insane. When I am home alone, the slightest amount of noise scares me and makes me think that something horrible is about to happen. For Lizzy, something horrible did happen.

The Wind is a slow film, but the intensity level raises at a pace that fits its surroundings. The film progresses from a slow film built around its characters and their suffering to a film that questions everything we have already seen. Movies with a slow build-up usually don’t interest me, but in this case, it added to the suspense.

The cinematography for The Wind is shot in a way that makes the land troubling. The open fields are captured beautifully from cinematographer Lyn Moncrief but at the same time haunting. Lizzy and Isaac live close to Emma and Gideon, but the film is shot in a way that makes them feel so distant. The camera lingers on Emma and Gideon’s house as if it is something that should be feared.

Caitlin Gerard is outstanding as Lizzy, who is haunted by past of losing a child as well as a spirit that is lurking in the wind. Since the film mixes the past and present, we can see two different sides of her. In the past, when she met her neighbors and witnessed the young couple being haunted by an entity, we get to watch Lizzy be independent while her husband is gone for weeks at a time. Lizzy handles the moments alone well in past but as the film shows more of the present, the scenes we saw of Lizzy alone aren’t as easy for her. The interesting thing about Gerard’s character is that it is hard to determine if there is an entity in the house or if Lizzy is mentally ill. The themes presented in the movie deal a lot with isolation and loneliness, so its easy to argue either way that she is being haunted or she is starting to see things due to her loneliness. The movie does an interesting job of playing both sides. There is a scene in the middle part of the film where Emma, the new neighbor, asks Lizzy if there is a church nearby and Lizzy responds saying that there aren’t enough people for that just yet. With Lizzy being alone for most of the time and being isolated in the Western Frontier, the careful execution of setting up Lizzy’s mental illness was a focus point for director Emma Tammi which led to Lizzy being an interesting character to watch.

The Wind is a well-structured film that moves at a slow pace but handles its themes of isolation and loneliness well. The choice to set it in the Western Frontier of the late 1800s was something I haven’t seen before but it led to an unsettling horror film. Emma Tammi crafted a film that is beautiful with its cinematography and haunting with its story.

The Wind has a run time of 1 hour 26 minutes and is rated R for violence/disturbing images, and some sexuality.