(Canada, 15 min.)
Dir. Stephen Dunn, Writ. Stephen Dunn & Margaret Lester
Starring: Christine Horne (Hannah), Angela Asher, Skyler
Wexler.
Programme: Short Cuts Canada, Programme 3 (World Premiere)
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Christine Horne stars in We Wanted More. Photo by Rick O'Brien, courtesy of the Canadian Film Centre. |
The road to success requires some tough choices. To stay or
to go, or maybe saying ‘yes’ instead of saying ‘no’, are both decisions that
need to be made when the time comes to choose a path. These choices can haunt
one forever, though, especially if life doesn’t take the route one planned.
Hannah, played by Christine Horne, is a singer on the cusp
of fame in the feverish psychological thriller We Wanted More, which is one of two productions by the Canadian Film Centre screening at TIFF this year. (The other being Anatomy of Assistance.) Hannah is on the verge of success—her agent, Karen
(Angela Asher), busily reminds her of a hot gig—but she’s stuck in the past and
she can barely move forward. The singer finds herself losing her voice as she
feels a sense of helplessness when her beau stands her up after a successful
performance. Looking longingly at a little girl as Karen rambles off the
itinerary for the upcoming big break, Hannah seems to be looking at a fork in
the road as she comes so close to stardom.
Hannah finds her voice later that night when she coughs up
some odd little thing. It’s a girl. Not so much a bouncing baby as a creepy
demon child à la The Ring, Hannah
finds herself in a traumatizing night of monstrous motherhood as she cares for
the child she thought she wanted.
We Wanted More is
a hypnotic homage to the mothers of late night horror. As Hannah frets over
life’s decisions, We Wanted More
casts its victim/agent/villain in nods to the women who have been consumed by
the same nightmarish dilemma in which Hannah finds herself. Starting off with a
sumptuously shot backstage sequence—the cinematography by Jackson Parrell is a
highlight—that echoes the psychological terror of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, We Wanted More sets up the troubled singer in a battle of wits
against herself. The rocker is the black swan; the mother, the white. Or is it
vice versa?
We Wanted More’s
eye-catching Black Swan-ish opener is just one of several homages
to the femme-centric films that have been milestones in psychological horror. It’s
hard not to notice Miss Horne’s unmistakable physical resemblance to Mia Farrow
in Rosemary’s Baby, for example,
after Hannah wipes the goop off her face and returns to her spacious apartment.
Tormented by phone calls, unexpected visitors, and, most of all, the prospect
of motherhood, Hannah struggles with the same intense demons that plagued
Rosemary and her baby.
Being a mother is less a dream than a nightmare for Hannah
(and for many artsy types, one suspects) as her night or terror with the little
child allows her to feed her nurturing side by offering the girl some cookies
and a wine glass full of milk. The thrill of motherhood, however, quickly becomes
banal as playtime turns into chores. The dream of being a mother goes full on
terrifying, though, once Hannah loses her voice completely and sees the child
overtake her rock star ambitions. Eat your heart out, Barbara Creed.
We Wanted More
finds an unexpected sense of release through Hannah’s struggle with monstrous
motherhood. Horne, recently seen in Margarita,
offers a compelling, mostly silent performance that carries Hannah’s fever
dream in a performance that realizes the character’s battle between her
ambitions and her inner demons. Production skills are equally top-notch, with the
visual scheme deserving especially high marks. The creepy score, comprised of
music by Todor Kobakov and Hannah’s haunting vocals, add to the eerie
atmosphere. Director Stephen Dunn delivers a psychologically taut horror tale
with We Wanted More. Whether Hannah’s
nightmare is reality or psychosis, the film is sure to leave a lasting
impression with horror fans, aspiring artists, and expectant parents alike.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
We Wanted More
screens in Short Cuts Canada Programme 3:
-Monday, Sept. 9, 10:00 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
-Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2:45 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Some of the shorts will also be playing online 24 hours after their public screening, so please check http://www.youtube.com/tiff and see if We Wanted More is one them!
Some of the shorts will also be playing online 24 hours after their public screening, so please check http://www.youtube.com/tiff and see if We Wanted More is one them!
Please visit www.tiff.net for more info on this year’s
festival.