Summary
The story and themes presented are strong, but they’re not as engaging because of how slow they move. In this film, you see two different perspectives on approaching a racially motivated hate crime when a young girl is kidnapped. It’s interesting to see how the cops handle such a situation and their ideologies.
We review the Netflix film Wild Is the Wind which does not contain any significant spoilers.
Over the years, there have been films that highlight the corruption in the police force and how racial inequality is part of a broken system. The judicial system is broken in many countries where there is oppression towards a marginalized group because no one knows how to deconstruct something that has been in place for years.
In order for any of this to be fixed, it needs to start from the inside, but it’s hard to trust those to do what’s right once they’re in the system that has turned against them for so many years. In Wild Is the Wind, two corrupt police officers investigate the brutal murder of a young girl, and tensions come to a head in their small, racially-segregated town. It is based in South Africa and focuses on a myriad of problems in a small township rife with a murderer and racism. In this film, you see two different perspectives on how to approach a racially motivated hate crime when a young girl is kidnapped. It’s interesting to see how the cops handle such a situation and their ideologies.
The film itself feels very cold and detached from the young girl, and that’s the reason it’s hard to connect to the story. Writer-director Fabien Medea tries to craft a crime drama from a different perspective that doesn’t quite work for its length. The crime drama is at its best when it’s setting up the story, so the beginning of this film will have you at the edge of your seat in trying to form your own connection.
The action scenes are stealthy, but the anticipation slowly fades into the background as the script gets a bit dense in highlighting other social issues. The racially fuelled opening fades into the background as the script explores other dire needs of the community who have fallen into poverty and are desperate to get themselves out of it. Medea wants to highlight the endless cycle that occurs in the area and how corruption is perceived. It is more so character-driven, as the police officers are polar opposites of one another. One is more level-headed, and the other is a hothead with a short fuse, which ends up being quite problematic.
The film moves at a very slow pace, and that’s the ultimate issue with this. The story and themes presented are strong, but it’s not as engaging because of how slow it moves. There are many moving parts and some effective scenes, but it doesn’t move the story along in a way that will draw you in. The first half had the potential for this to be quite strong, but certain scenes are dragged out, and some don’t fit in with what the corruption in the force is trying to show.
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