An elusive modern folk tale, Inland is full of atmosphere but its blend of naturalism and mysticism amounts to an often frustrating vagueness. Set around the Forest Of Dean, it follows a young character, played by Rory Alexander and simply named Man, recently released from a psychiatric hospital following the disappearance of his mother. Man goes to a father figure – Dunleavy, an ear-ringed Mark Rylance – who knew his mother, perhaps in a deeper way than Alexander knows. Unable to settle back into an existence working as a mechanic, Man is plagued by visions of a young boy searching for a woman in the woods.
Several offbeat, elliptical scenes follow. Man is taken out of the town to a bizarre bar called the Faerie Queen, where statues are the objects of lust for a trio of men. At the bar, Man seems to hook up with a prostitute, though her significance is muddy. Katherine Hunter’s raspy voiceover, spouting semi-mystical dialogue, drives scenes; dead owls also feature.
Inland is a muddled, frustrating watch: notably experimental and beautifully shot, it only really sparks to life when Rylance appears. He imbues a sense of naturalism, fear and ambiguity into his scenes, whereas many others seem more at sea. A film about the borderlands of the real and ancient, the natural and the human, Inland has moments of wonder but would benefit from a steadier hand and direction from Ryder – who, in trying to enigmatically cover a lot of emotional and thematic ground, fails to fully engage us.
Dir: Fridtjof Ryder (15, 82 mins)
Out now in cinemas
words KEIRON SELF
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