As much as we love to idealize romantic relationships, the truth of the matter is that the typical couple does not usually experience only good or only bad in the course of their journey. Relationships are complex with peaks and valleys, but true love usually has a tendency of finding its way in the end. The new directorial effort from Tara Miele takes this core notion and explores it in increasingly inventive ways, like the more sensible sibling of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. From the opening moments of the film, we get a snapshot of a couple who has hit a bit of a rough patch. Adrienne (Sienna Miller, American Sniper) is the new mother of an infant child who is getting dressed up for a special night – presumably for the first time in a while. Matteo (Diego Luna, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is the father of her child who is busy working in the garage – a place we will come to know he spends a lot of time – blissfully unaware that he has forgotten about their date night, the one he suggested. This faux pas only adds to the growing resentment between the two.
This once blissfully happy couple has begun to sour somewhat due to her simmering resentment of their unmarried status, quickly pointing out that they are not married when someone erroneously posits otherwise. This may or may not be contributing to the suspicion of Matteo’s flirtatious friend Shae (Aimee Carrero), who always seems to pop up at the most inopportune times. All of this is compounded by their new mortgage and the birth of their 6-month-old daughter named Ellie. Matteo is the type of person who thinks they just need to get through their rough patch; they will be happy again before long. An exasperated Adrienne wonders what kind of life they are living if they just have to “get through it” for now. A reckoning comes in the form of a car crash while returning home from their date night. The sight of fire, twisted metal and a quickly forming oil slick is all Adrienne remembers before witnessing her body being rolled away down to the morgue at the hospital. She must be dead; her world starts folding in onto itself as the boundaries between the past and the future break down.
After glimpsing her funeral, Adrienne flashes to a future where a teenage Ellie is comforted by her grandmother Patty (Beth Grant), angry that her dad abandoned her. Adrienne is confronted in her dreamlike state by Matteo who urges her to realize that she is not actually dead, but all evidence seems to convince Adrienne to the contrary. Matteo believes that if he tells the story of their relationship, she will want to rejoin the land of the living. From here we take a trip through the highlights of their story, from their playful rooftop-party beginnings to their present-day woes. We actually get to see why these two people were a couple in the first place, their quirks and their playful banter. These pivotal moments carefully reveal important information about the relationship, but even more is revealed through the at-times conflicting accounts of how events actually played out and what it meant to each person. These snapshots are often sexy and heartwarming, but the couple also has to face issues that they always kept buried in the moment. Through this exploration, you come to find that it is the little things that truly define a relationship.
Sienna Miller and Diego Luna are phenomenal in their respective roles, displaying a genuine chemistry that enhances the movie ten-fold. Even in their toughest moments, you can clearly see the love these characters have for one another. The script, partially culled from the real-life experiences of Miele, does a really admirable job of taking you through the biggest beats in their story, but you often find yourself wanting a bit more of the tiny, inconsequential moments that go to the heart of defining a connection. Where Miele truly shines is her execution of the visual style. The way in which locations seamlessly blend from one another, such as when a walk through the garage transitions to a sandy beach, is breathtaking, especially for a modestly-budgeted movie such as this. The gorgeous, swelling score of Alex Weston is a key component to allowing this story to resonate in the way that it does. The way in which it is used in the final moments coupled with the narrative action on screen will leave you floating on an emotional high. The movie is imperfect at times, but this life-affirming exploration of the complexities of a relationship is well worth diving into.
Video Quality
Wander Darkly comes to Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation that beautifully captures the lovely cinematography of the movie. While not released on 4K UHD, this Blu-Ray presentation more than holds its own as it provides detailed, natural skin tones with a very impressive amount of detail in the set design and clothing. The film has a natural color palette that provides very impressive moments of vivid hues on screen. The film has a very dreamlike quality due to the narrative and the blending of the present with moments from the past that gives the film an intentionally out-of-focus appearance. The black levels hold up pretty well throughout, with only a very minimal amount of noise detected. Overall, Wander Darkly looks amazing on Blu-Ray and represents the film as it was intended to be seen.
Audio Quality
The film comes to Blu-Ray with a solid DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that handles everything this movie throws at it with ease. As you might expect, there is not a lot of action happening in this movie, but that does not mean there is a lack of activity in all of the channels. The track handles the dreamy transitional sequences very well with activity coming from the appropriate directions. Music plays an important part of the movie, from the stellar soundtrack that makes a mark at every turn to the lovely, swelling score that transports you to these moments in the couple’s relationship with immense grace. All of these elements are balanced well with the dialogue so that nothing feels overpowered. Environmental activity also plays a big part in the movie, and the sound effects come through in a powerful way that envelopes the room. This is a top-notch audio presentation for a film that would not spring to mind as an audio heavy-hitter.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Director Tara Miele provided a very engaging and informative commentary track in which she reveals anecdotes from the production of the film, details the experiences from her life that she included in the script, explains what a joy it was to work with the two lead actors and much more.
- Narrative Therapy – Remembering Wander Darkly: A sixteen-minute featurette in which the cast and crew discuss the connection to real-life events experienced by director Tara Miele, what the actors brought to their respective roles, how they went about crafting the look of the film, the editing techniques included in the film and much more. There are some lovely insights into the story that are worth exploring for fans of the film.
Final Thoughts
Wander Darkly is an incredibly engrossing and emotionally fulfilling journey into the complexities of a loving relationship. The way in which director Tara Miele uses inventive, practical filmmaking to bring a sense of wonder to her grounded story never fails to elevate the film. Sienna Miller and Diego Luna bring that little spark of magic to this narrative that brings the project together as something really rewarding. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a fantastic A/V presentation and a couple of informative special features. This one really spoke to me; give it a chance and it might do the same for you. Highly Recommended
Wander Darkly is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
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