Ethan Hawke’s WILDCAT: A Review

Introduction

As far back as I can remember, Ethan Hawke has always had music in his soul. It was evident in Reality Bites (1994) when he introduced a generation to The Violent Femmes, followed by directing Lisa Loeb’s video for “Stay (I Missed You)” from the film’s soundtrack. Since then he’s directed numerous music videos and features about musicians, most recently Blaze (2018), reimagining the life and times of Texas Outlaw musician Blaze Foley. He has taken this love of music and applied it to the lyrical world of literature, co-writing a (sort of) biopic of famed writer Flannery O’Connor titled Wildcat, starring Maya Hawke in the lead role.

Maya Hawke, to her credit, has always had literature in her soul, even doubting a career as an actress as it might detract from her love of literature. If you imagine the film Wildcat is a case of nepotism, you’re right, but not how you think. The film was Maya’s idea, and her passion for its subject shines through in her performance. (Ironically, she is also a musician, a source of proud jealousy to her father.)

Interweaving Fact and Fiction

The brilliance of Hawke’s Wildcat is its narrative conceit. Rather than the film merely recounting the life of Flannery O’Connor, the story we’re given is her struggle with authenticity, faith, and relatability, at a point in her career that ultimately shapes her legacy. While O’Connor’s adventures transpire in 1950s New York City and Milledgeville, Georgia, the film also ventures into locations of pure imagination.

Flannery’s fictions play out as vignettes throughout, cast with the residents of her daily life. While Flannery O’Connor (Maya Hawke) often envisions her protagonists as versions of herself, the matron characters are always versions of her mother, Regina (Laura Linney), and if the story calls for a simple southern soul, her Aunt Duchess (Christina Dye) steps in. The men who fill her stories always change, however, perhaps a commentary on the early loss of her father and her infamous status as a perpetual bachelorette.

As she never had a stable male presence in her life, the likes of Vincent D’Onofrio, Steve Zahn, Rafael Casal, and Cooper Hoffman rotate through her fantasies. A parade of men who reveal the demons beneath their skinsuits and genteel southern accents, à la Donald Ray Pollock’s southern gothic nightmares of Knockemstiff and The Devil All the Time. While this artistic choice hasn’t been confirmed by the filmmaker, it seems sensible.

Spirituality and Vulgarity

The crux of the film isn’t O’Connor’s relationship with men, however. It’s her relationship to spirituality and a changing America that drives the conflict of the story. Rather than her struggle to seek acceptance from publishers, we’re engaged in her struggle to accept herself, her voice, and her health. Drawing from her posthumous “Prayer Journals,” Hawke and co-writer Shelby Gaines have excellently captured an artist aghast by her imagination, wondering if the stories and premises she creates are flattering to the divine or driving her further from grace.

During a dinner party scene with others in the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Masters Program, O’Connor finds herself looking upon her contemporaries as vignettes of the Seven Deadly Sins: lust, gluttony, greed, envy, and pride. These vices all salaciously assault her even while she defends her use of vulgar Southern language as a true reflection of the America in which she had formed. It’s a scene that asks us to align ourselves with equally damning sects, an illustration of the flawed legacy that lies behind all of America.

A Breakout Role

While many will recognize Maya Hawke for her work in Stranger Things, Maestro, and Asteroid City, her performance in Wildcat cements her as a true leading star. Bolstered by an amazing supporting cast (I cannot ever say enough nice things about Laura Linney) that also includes Liam Neeson and Philip Ettinger, Maya Hawke gives every scene she plays a gravitas that shows a passion for her work and great compassion for her character.

Both Hawkes are quick to admit to O’Connor’s shortcomings while working ardently to paint a portrait of the artist as a decidedly human and inherently complicated individual. Armed with a stellar script, keen direction, and a top-tier ensemble cast, Maya Hawke has turned in an awards-worthy performance that will surely see her securing more lead roles very soon.

Conclusion

Interestingly, though O’Connor has a short story titled ‘Wildcat’ from which the film likely takes its name, there is a third-act introduction of a peacock that more thoroughly captures the character of Flannery O’Connor. All-consuming, destructive, and ultimately beautiful, the creature is a metaphor for the author’s enduring work and problematic legacy.

One is left to wonder why the film wasn’t titled ‘Peacock’ but it could be as pragmatic as not limiting the film’s streaming future. If one chooses to read ‘Wildcat’ one may find that it is the harshest criticism Hawke could level at O’Connor and the accusations of racism applied to her social outlook and authorial voice.

Ethan Hawke’s incendiary script, along with co-writer Shelby Gaines, lays bare the spiritual and cultural battle within a writer compelled to record the very real world around her. Maya Hawke’s titular performance is an award-worthy turn filled with passion as well as compassion.

Wildcat opens in theaters on Friday, May 3rd, 2024 after a wildly successful festival run.

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