In 2012, Benh Zeitlin won Sundance with the fantastical “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” making 9-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis the youngest Oscar nominee ever for Best Actress.
Now, he lends his coming-of-age talents to “Wendy,” a film that dabbles in the creative imagery of “Peter Pan” but loses control of its narrative for an uncertain target audience.
Loosely based on J.M. Barrie’s beloved 1911 novel (I can’t emphasize enough the term “loosely” based), a young girl named Wendy Darling and her twin brothers, Douglas and James, live with their mother in a cramped tenement, dreading the prospect of growing up.
One night, they see a young boy named Peter hopping atop train cars on the tracks that run outside their bedroom window. When they curiously follow, they are kidnapped by Peter’s merry band of “lost children” and taken to an island where time ceases to exist.
Hats off to casting director Jesy Rae Buhl for finding such a talented group of child actors. Devin France leads the way as Wendy, her eyes shifting from innocent to fiery as she narrates her character’s growth with childlike wonder like Wallis’ Hushpuppy in “Beasts.”
Flanking her on both sides are real-life siblings Gage and Gavin Naquin as her twin brothers. No, they’re not named Michael and John like the story we know and love. This time, it’s Douglas and James, the latter cleverly foreshadowing an unexpected twist.
Of course, the real show stealer is Yashua Mack as Peter, who is not a whimsical fairy flying to Neverland like Pan, originally named after a deity of Greek mythology who plays pipes to nymphs. Rather, this Peter is adorably tough in jacket and dreadlocks, speaking his opinionated code for the island with a stiff upper lip that says “don’t mess with me.”
In many ways, this is the film’s central conceit: providing gritty, logical explanations for traditionally magical elements. This would be a unique take, but magic still surfaces on the island, so we’re not quite sure of the aim. Is it trying to say the Peter Pan legend became an overblown myth from real events? Or is it trying to say that magic actually exists?
What’s more, the rules of magic are unclear. Supposedly, the lost children remain young as long as their best friend is alive. This holds true for one character who ages upon losing his friend, but another character remains young during the same exact scenario. When confronted about how he was able to stay young, he simply replies, “I don’t know!”
It all feels like a little bit of this, a little bit of that, lacking any real solid foundation of purpose. Without this, we become lost in the lyrical visuals, which recall latter-day Terrence Malick, but not as pretentious as “Knight of Cups” (2015). There’s still beauty in the waterfalls, geysers and mountain mist filmed on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.
However, this natural wonder clashes with grainy close-ups and shaky-cam movements. Such a cinema-verite style may be embraced by Sundance viewers in the tradition of Italian Neorealism and Dogme 95, but mainstream moviegoers may get a headache.
After his “Beasts” collaboration with cinematographer Ben Richardson (“Wind River”), Zeitlin now works with cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, who shot the German single-take gem “Victoria” (2015). Together, they show Wendy’s window reflection as a train passes by in strobe effect, then Douglas’ split reflection to symbolize his twin.
It’s all backed by the music of composer Dan Romer, whose trumpet score for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” remains one of the most memorable scores of the 21st century. Here, we get similar horns that suggest a magic that we wish existed more in the script itself.
In the end, we’re not quite sure of the target audience. Its “Lord of the Flies” vibe feels made for young adults — until a shockingly violent act. As the blood squirts, we realize it’s a film for adults learning to appreciate their adulthood instead of longing for their youth.
Don’t go in expecting straightforward storytelling with a feminine twist; for that, you’ll have to watch Lauren Gunderson’s stage production of “Peter Pan & Wendy.” No, this is something much different, creative in so many ways but lacking the narrative “hook.”
