Sarasota Film Festival: 'Tatterdemalion' Stumbles in the Woods

von Clayton Davis · 17.04.2018

Exploring the deep recesses of the woods has long been an interesting trope in film. Many, such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "The Witch" use this to tell creepy stories. A new film, "Tatterdemalion" approaches similar territory, but never chooses to go for horror. Instead, the folklore sets up a dramatic narrative that doesn't quite work. The result is a slightly uneven film that shows some promise but is ultimately let down by a lack of quality writing.

The film picks up Fern Sreve (Leven Rambin), an Army soldier returning home from war. She is looking for her brother after hearing their father has passed away. Her family lived in the Ozarks and was torn apart by drug use. She's also suffering from PTSD, often consisting of nightmares and gunfire. As she begins to look for her brother, she begins to befriend a local bartender/social worker Mike (Jim Parrack) and reconnects with family friend Florine (Toni Chritton Johnson). One day, she wanders into the woods and finds a young boy named Cecil (Landon Edwards) who does not seem to have a family. The boy is odd, but Fern takes him in until Mike can find out where he came from.

The film features some pretty strong performances at its core. Edwards in particular plays above the role, often crafting moments of true heartbreak in the process. Rambin is also fairly strong at embuing some subtext into the script. Parrack also does an excellent job at injecting humor into the role, and gives the film a charismatic supporting player. The three work well together in scenes, and their chemistry really helps the film remain charming.

The film begins to dive into local legends and ghost stories. The locals all seem to believe in these superstitions, specifically the Tatterdemalion. A Tatterdemalion is a creature born from the woods, that forces an adult to take it home and care for it, all while the creature drains the adult's lifeforce. It's an interesting bit of mythology and certainly works to set up stakes for the film. The question of whether or not we should believe the folklore runs throughout the film.

However, the problem the film faces comes from a lack of following through on storylines. There are several deus ex machinas that arise through the film. There are characters we've never met before giving important dialogue. Meanwhile, other stories are abandoned altogether. For example, there is a subplot where Fern adopts a dog, only to have the dog run into the woods. As she looks for the animal, she finds Cecil. After that, the dog is never brought up again. It's an odd way to bring Cecil into the story, and frankly, it was distracting that we never rounded back to find out what occurred.

The other problem the film has is that it seems unable to answer whether Fern is an outsider, or well acquainted with local traditions. The film seems to want it both ways. She knows basics about the town and has some established relationships with prominent locals. She also does not know about 2/3 of the inhabitants, and only knows about half the folklore. It's odd and gives the audience a feeling of whiplash as it progresses. The film would have been far more satisfying if it had stuck on one side.

The production quality does hurt the film, and the editing and cinematography hurt the film at times. The editing is a little too jagged, and ADR is required to fill in some exposition drops. It seems like the shots they wanted weren't always there, and it's obvious on occasion. Second, the use of filters, especially blue filters for nighttime shots, was excessive. It definitely looks awkward, and with advancements in today's film, natural lighting might have given the film a more aesthetically pleasing look.

Overall, "Tatterdemalion" is not a complete stay away, but very much lacks in some key areas. The film struggles to find a consistent logic internally, and that's going to be a tough sell for most audiences. If the writing had been stronger, it might have been easier to buy in on the lower production quality. However, with the quality of the film also in question, its tough to recommend this one.