The title of the first feature by New York City-born, Oslo-based filmmaker Dara Van Dusen, A Prayer for the Dying, is aptly dramatic, given her strong directorial voice and the apocalyptic story based on the 1999 novel by Stewart O’Nan. A European arthouse western, or a “survival thriller”, as it is billed, starring Johnny Flynn and John C Reilly, it is a technically accomplished, at times even innovative, picture that doesn’t fully make good on its promise of topicality and biblical scope.

Taking place in July 1870 in Friendship, Wisconsin (although it was filmed in the Slovakian countryside), the film centres on Jacob (Flynn), a Civil War hero who is the small town’s sheriff, pastor and undertaker at the same time. He lives with his wife Martha (Norwegian actress Kristine Kujath Thorp, from Sick of Myself [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Kristine Kujath Thorp
interview : Kristoffer Borgli
fiche film]) and toddler Amelia, and rides a bike instead of a horse. On this level, the film is appropriately realistic, without the heroes or villains that a typical western would have, and with Ján Kocman’s costumes as dirty as you can imagine in the summer heat, while the production design by Hubert Pouille (of Mandy [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film] fame) could have been less contained.

When Doc (Reilly), the town’s doctor, realises that a woman from the nearby religious colony of what could be a precursor to the Mormons is suffering from diphtheria, he and Jacob have to hide it so as not to cause panic. In the meantime, Amelia gets thrush, a candida infection that was deadly at the time, and Martha spirals, while a wildfire is approaching. As diphtheria claims more and more lives, Jacob is eventually forced to quarantine the town.

Van Dusen’s cinematic voice is strong and distinct, but perhaps not yet fully articulated. DoP Kate McCullough (The Quiet Girl [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Colm Bairéad
fiche film]) films the dusty summer heat of the town in ochre hues, while Jacob’s nightmares, which represent his guilt over his misdeeds in the war, are painted an infernal red, with ashes falling from the sky, simultaneously hinting at the encroaching fire. In particularly dramatic moments, the cinematographer uses surprisingly fast pans, which are either circular or go along geometric lines, almost like in a first-person video game, sometimes serving as transitions between seasoned editor Fredrik Morheden’s cuts. This jarring effect can be interpreted as some unseen force, or as a bridge between the eras, but although it is the film’s most interesting technical aspect, it is dubious how much it adds to what we recognise as its biblical dimension, or its reference to our own time’s epidemics and consequences of climate change. While it is hard to miss these contexts, it is not that easy to fully experience them as a consistent expression of the picture.

The Innocents [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Eskil Vogt
fiche film] sound designers Gustaf Berger and Jesper Miller amplify the feverish atmosphere with both eerie background effects and very prominent sounds of insects and fire crackling, while composer Beata Hlavenková contributes with a bombastic, aggressive score. Flynn gives an all-out, dedicated performance, and it is always a joy to watch Reilly, but one leaves the cinema not fully convinced.

A Prayer for the Dying was produced by Norway’s Eye Eye Pictures, and co-produced by Greece’s asterisk* and Blonde, the UK’s The Bureau, and Sweden’s Garagefilm International and Film i Väst. New Europe Film Sales has the international rights.