Written and directed by Yana Alliata, co-written by Amy Miner, after a life altering accident, Ryan returns home for a birthday luau and uncovers the secret of when things took a tragic turn. Starring: Ryan Wuestewald, Hans Christopher, Nikki DeParis, Fabrizio Alliata, Makena Miller, Nyah Juliano and Michael Carter.
One of Reeling’s biggest strengths is undoubtedly the direction from Yana Alliata and the cinematography from Rafael Leyva. As soon as you enter this film you can feel the complexity of its atmosphere, the tension and apprehension. That’s something Alliata does very well, there’s a constant cloud lingering over the film, with a sense of foreboding and a secret to be revealed. With that is also a very natural awkwardness, it’s organically uncomfortable and that increases as the film progresses, it’s immersive in its uneasiness.
Ryan Wuestewald leans into that stunningly, his performance is exceptional. The vulnerability, the conflict, the confusion and that feeling of being rejected or being a burden are all so well captured by his portrayal. It’s utterly easy to sympathise with his character, to feel the punch of his family pulling away from him out of frustration. It also feels like a very thoughtful portrayal of brain injuries, trying to explore the unintentionally erratic, unpredictable behaviour and how people respond to it.
There’s also a great cast behind him, the ensemble all does a great job of giving Reeling a natural atmosphere and personality. As well as having a good story at the foundation of the film, it taps into that classic concept of secrets of the past slowly making their way to the surface but in a new way. However, it does ultimately feel too simple, there’s so many inferences to the past and what Ryan (Wuestewald) was like prior to his accident, but we don’t get to see any of that, or of how his life has been since the accident. So, when the film does arrive at the point of revealing its secret, it doesn’t feel like enough. It all builds to this one rather brief moment which is slightly disappointing.
Reeling has a great tension, it’s shot well with undeniably fantastic location choices. It has a superb organic atmosphere, and the direction feels very well driven by the emotional nature of the film. It’s filled with strong performances, led by Ryan Wuestewald who gives an excellent, complex portrayal. It’s simply let down by how the story plays out, it feels as though we’re missing part of the conversation. It’s so focused on the present when the past has such a big role to play, but it goes mostly unexplored, leaving things somewhat unresolved, despite actually wrapping things up quite neatly. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting debut feature from Yana Alliata.
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