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Nat (Martin L. Washington jr) is a recovering alcoholic who's really serious about his sobriety so he can help his boyfriend Adam (Kevin Medlin), who's hard struck by cancer, through chemotherapy. And it's thanks to his best friend Aleah (Erin Day), his sponsor at Alcoholics Anonymous, that he can be that rock for Adam. But then Adam's mother Anna (Maria Olsen), a bible-thumping bigot, throws Nat out of the house, blaming their relationship as the cause for Adam's cancer. It's hardly surprising then that Nat has a bad relapse and drinks the night away. Thank God another good friend of Nat's, Jean (Shannon Conley) picks him up and helps him recover. Thing is she's a self-professed healer with strong esoteric roots who tries to speed up recovery in a ritual that almost kills Nat - so eventually she calls in her teacher and idol Peter (Joe Rooney) for help, and the two find Nat has tremendous healing powers within himself. Now Nat is pleased to hear that, as he figures as a "healer" he can cure Adam's cancer, that way convince his mother that he's worthy, and the two can come back together to live as a couple.

Meanwhile, Jean's getting worried as she hasn't heard from Nat since his bender (where Nat lost his phone), and she tries to investigate, but time and again runs into a creepy bandaged guy, Jimmy (Cam Burns), who tries to get much closer to her than she's comfortable with, and who freaks her out.

Nat manages to actually cure Adam with Peter's help, but is not welcomed back into Adam's family with open arms but chased away. What's worse though, Peter's playing a crooked game, using both Nat and Jean as mere pawns - only Nat doesn't like being treated like a pawn ...

Now Wretch starts out almost deceivingly cheesy, as something close to an extended AA advertisment, really - but fortunately, that's exactly the technique the film uses to slowly but surely erode the world it has created and drag things into a grotesque and often very creepy direction, and while the beginning might suggest little more than white picket fences, the story soon descends into a dark and surreal mystery where much is guesswork and little is what it seems. And thanks to a well-structure dscript, a directorial effort that finds the balance between being grounded and letting loose, and a solid ensemble, Wretch turns out to be a delightfully disturbing film what horror films are bound to appreciate.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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