While Matt Soble's Take Me To The River may be vague to a fault, it's never not engrossing, thanks to a unique narrative that pulsates with mystery and intrigue. The story is centered around Ryder, a gay California teenager, who isn't exactly thrilled to be visiting his Nebraskan relatives for a family reunion, a conservative, rural family whose ideals certaily seem backwards to the young man. In the opening scene of Take Me To The River, Ryder makes it very clear he'd rather just come out as soon as possible, not wanting to lie about who he is to his relatives, regardless of their feelings on the matter. For the sake of his mother though Ryder chooses to keep quiet about his sexual orientation, though some of his clothing, including bright red short-shorts, certainly draw the eye of his conservative, country relatives. Early on in Take Me To The River the filmmaker makes an effort to document the contrast of feminine and masculine roles in this rural culture, exhibiting how they are clearly defined. Ryder seems to only get along with his young, female cousins, especially Molly, who becomes quite attached to her older cousin from California. One day a strange encounter occurs away from the families watchful eyes, raising suspicion of Ryder when Molly returns home with blood in her crotchel region. While the negative minded ignorance around homosexuality is certainly documented, what transpires from there on out in Take Me The River is more about family secrets and the Ryder's mother's inability to stand up for her independence due to being constantly in need of her families' blessing. The mother is quietly a very fragile character in this film, needing to feel re assimilated into her family, needing to bond with them, even at times doing things at the cost of her son's psyche to do so. Ryder is simply a character who doesn't want to be there, now struggling to grasp why his uncle and Molly's father, Keith, became enraged at him and why he would jump to the worst possible conclusion. What eventually becomes clear is that Ryder has essentially become a pawn in the underlying emotional tug of war between his mother, Cindy, and her brother, Keith, though the film never makes it entirely clear what happened many years ago to begin this game of psychological abuse, if anything did at all. One of the best scenes of film is when Ryder is at Keith's house for dinner, featuring a great use of mise-en-scene that aids in creating a quiet, startling tension as Keith quietly dishes out psychological abuse. A promising debut feature, Take Me To The River is a film that is vague enough to conjure up various interpretations into what exactly happened in the mother's past, as well as how far Keith's demented nature runs, but the film's craft is undeniable regardless of your feelings on ambiguity.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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