WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
The origins of deception and the secrets it holds. Despite what we would hope would be the pursuing of verity and transparency within any given community, the specters of nefarious deeds, those who perpetrate them, and the subsequent choosing to hide the ensuing ramifications remains a far more common occurrence than it should. Fueled by people with no scruples, it then falls to others who DO wish the truth to come forth to stand firm and try their best to expose what lies beneath. But, as is also often the case, at what COST will this come for them? In the peaceful village of Mabel, local lawman Sheriff Manduque (Brandon Cornwell) is investigating a highly questionable death, drawing the attention and ire of another law keeper, Sheriff Carson (Myles Hollie) who, long with resident priest Father Frank (Farrukhbek Varisov), aim to do only one thing–keep Manduque quiet and thwart the revealing of Mabel’s notorious past and equally unsettling present.
Next, my Mind:
After currently approaching a total of 10 years of remaining primarily immersed in covering indie cinema, at all of its myriad of levels, from across the globe, one thing continues to stand true for this critic when we arrive at a place where absolute grass roots filmmaking is in play–the simple EFFORT illustrated on screen that ideally mirrors the passion of the creative mind behind it, which is paramount. Personally, I have ZERO question of that heart, stalwart determination, and sheer perseverance when it comes to this admittedly ambitious 150-minute indie feature film from first time writer/director/producer/editor/cinematographer Sofia Bilbao Bardier and producer/cinematographer Alexander Rhodes Fortune, which is based on a novel of the same name penned by Bilbao herself. On the surface what I witnessed is a new filmmaker aiming to make a big statement right from the start. This succeeds, but for me both positively and negatively.
The narrative finds a host of characters entangled in both a seemingly Western-era timeframe and others providing a flashback-centric backstory which appears to be more Medieval in intended setting confronting an ever-escalating web of lies, deceit, and other nasty business that gets brought to the surface again by an unexpectedly peculiar and disquieting death which attracts the attention of both those who want the reality of a town’s buried secrets cast into the light and those who wish it to all remain sequestered by whatever means necessary. In the midst of it all, there is even opportunity to have certain individual’s love lives explored and fleshed out, even when who can trust who is almost constantly in question, regarding of which era we’re privy to as the story unfolds. So, needless to say, there’s a LOT going on. I believe that much of what’s being portrayed could have been explained and moved forward with more conciseness in grander execution.
Mind you, I have NO issue with long films, even when executed with a more slow burn approach, especially when the character and story development it allows for is carried out fluidly and with conspicuous intent. While I was able to follow the narrative here and then ultimately pick up the nuances of it as the film progressed, I have to be transparent here that perhaps the runtime was just a tad TOO long, simply drawing things out to really an unnecessary extent, with details as to the character’s relation to the story in both the present and past able to be full and clear minus some moments that really felt more like “filler” than utterly needed material to carry the events forward without losing any momentum and purpose. Now, this said, the thematic forays I found here are legion, and I get the sense very personal to Bilbao in some form given how the novel this effort is based on manifested during the time that it did per the statement I read about its creation.
Notions of “fitting in”, the damage of gossip, obsession, and selfish motives, the idea of what true beauty is and should be, wanting to really be “seen”, standing for WHO you are, the corrosive nature of falsehoods, concealed anger, betrayal, emotional and physical abuse, sexism, patriarchy, misguided actions against others, harboring unforgiveness and resentment, and the actuality that attempts to disguise or ignore any of these with the belief bad choices will remain shrouded can only end up leading to misery–but, PERHAPS, some kind of redemption if accountability is attained or decided upon. How the film’s finale comes about is very cleverly done, and offers a magnitude of surprise on multiple levels which ends up saving the film from sinking into a more formulaic conclusion that otherwise might not have had the impact Bilbao & Company wanted. So, I give full props here for all the elements being coveyed above as well as the ending. There were a few audio gaffes (which are since being corrected, so honestly, bravo for that) and certain scene transitions seemed either abrupt or a little off-kilter. But, as always with me, I can overlook a lot of things for the sake of a story that engages me. This film did “keep” me, but again, only to a specific extent.
As for the approach to acting here, as with most smaller budget/grass roots efforts, you go with what you have to work with, and I likewise always give credit to actors in general, because to get on screen and “put it out there” is a daunting enough task to begin with. I feel confident in stating the large ensemble cast achieved overall success here. However, it is also difficult not to point out that there were plentiful rough spots via staggered delivery of lines in some places, and also just some overacted instances of high emotion (which IS a tricky thing to master), as there’s intensity and then trying TOO hard to BE intense/emotive, which did occur. Cornwell is decent as Manduque, evident that there is full intentionality by the actor to create a character who’s definitively in over his head and at the whim of forces beyond his ability to handle. Hollie is all bravado and simmering energy as Carson, a Sheriff whose ideas of justice and truth leave much to be desired when it comes to the secrets he has aided in staying undisturbed–until now.
Varisov does ooze creepy ominousness as the local priest Father Frank who suffice it to state lacks any actual religious of moral fortitude as his misdeeds gets laid out during the narrative’s course. We find Jordan Nevels as Carmela, a head servant in the past time era who could hold a major key to the events we see in more ways than is evident at first. Peter Monsour is Patrick, a wayward King who has more than his share of deeds that need re-assessing and addressed. Betsy Armstrong is Zelma, Patrick’s Queen who has her own fair share of doings that call into question her loyalty and desire to actually be loved and appreciated. Sergio Alicea is Pablo, a journalist in the present possibly looking to expose Mabel’s darkness who also has a similar character in the past mixed up in the affairs. Imran Bangash is Camilo, Patrick’s chief knight who ends up embroiled in his own personal demons, at odds with Patrick, as well as others when truths arise about him. Monty Lee is Peter, a charismatic man only wanting to maintain his love for a best friend (played by Elliot Bowman) and stay out of the shady dealings happening around him.
Additional turns are made by Laura Kirk, Basia Schendzielos, Callee Harris, Allison Fitzsimmons, Louise Immasche, and Tamiah Coffee. So, in total, “Mabel” for me represents what’s genuinely most important to take away from this–a commitment by a new filmmaker to make a dream come to pass, unapologetically put a narrative out there that means something, BE who they are AS a creative artist, and demonstrate the unwavering desire to become successful in the medium they most cherish and are pushing to express themselves through. In spite of all the initial shortcomings I mentioned in this review, I truly hope it’s taken as constructive criticism, shared with no malicious intent, but rather as an encouragement to keep LEARNING, GROWING, and MAKING FILMS so that as time progresses, we will have the privilege of seeing the results of this growth shining forth from the screen in front of us. Stay the course, and ALWAYS find ways to polish and improve.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
