We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us
WANDER – directed by April Mullen – written by Tim Doiron – SPOILERS
Elsa and The Sheriff
Arthur Bretnik (Aaron Eckhart) investigates conspiracies. Using the on-air name Atlas Major, he and his sidekick Jimmy Cleats (Tommy Lee Jones) co-anchor a “deep web” podcast called The Thought Junction dedicated to all things conspiracy-related. The podcast discusses “…the unsettling number of Illuminati black operations that plague our country”, meaning the United States. The film is set in the New Mexico desert.
Nicole Steinwedell as Tanya with her daughter
Years previously, a car crash left Bretnik’s wife in a vegetative state and killed his daughter. Bretnik believes it was he, not his family, who was targeted.
Right in Arthur’s backyard (so to speak), a woman dies mysteriously and her mother calls the podcast begging for an investigation. To his credit, Arthur is suspicious when his sidekick encourages him to take the case, but $10,000 is persuasive when one is making a living investigating insurance fraud in the desert. WANDER was filmed in Carrizozo, New Mexico, about 80 kilometers from the Mexico/US border, just where one might expect Wander to be.
Elena
The film is pretty (if you like the desert) and Arthur is a fascinatingly over-medicated obsessive who typifies American anti-authority paranoia. Elsa the CIA agent (the name combined with her behaviour brings to mind Ilsa of the SS) colludes with Jimmy the sidekick, and tries to destroy Arthur with partial truths.
Occasionally, visual effect takes precedence over realism. In the opening scene, for instance, Zoe (Elizabeth Selby) climbs out of her wrecked pick-up truck at the Wander town limit and staggers forward a few steps until something blows a small hole in her chest and kills her. Just what made the truck crash is not apparent. The road is clear and the truck flips over for no reason in the middle of it. And if a government conspiracy wanted to kill someone with an implant, they might be a bit more subtle about it and have the implant stop her heart without leaving a mark.
Jimmy and Arthur decide whether to work for Elena.
Heather Graham gives a standout performance as Arthur’s lawyer, friend, and sometimes employer who makes Arthur further suspicious by starting to date a new-in-town FBI agent (Brendan Fehr).
Director April Mullen told Greg Srisavasdi of Deepest Dream that Eckhart was perfect for the role: “He came to the table with knowledge of conspiracies and being a warrior for the light and the silenced voices and a champion of that and just had brought to us the Illuminati chemtrails.“, she said. “[He] just had knowledge that Arthur needed to have, like this unwavering belief in all of the deepest fears that Arthur was going through.”
Charlie
Arthur’s dog Charlie is April Mullen’s dog, El Perro, a rescue she acquired in Mexico a few years back.
The film is dedicated “To all indigenous people, black, and people of color and who have been displaced through border control on stolen land. May we expose government violences, propel change, and honor the voices of those who have been silenced. Wander was filmed on the homelands of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache peoples.”