Competition Narrative Feature
Climate of the Hunter
Directed by: Mickey Reece
USA, 2019, 81m
Southeast Premiere
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Alma (Ginger Gilmartin), a pot-smoking artist, and Elizabeth (Mary Buss), a prim socialite, are sisters who reunite at their family’s cabin after decades of estrangement. Underneath their awkward pleasantries and elaborate dinners is a competition for the attention of their childhood friend and worldly raconteur Wesley (Ben Hall), who may or may not be a vampire. Tension is heightened when Wesley’s bitter son and Alma’s beautiful daughter arrive, each confronting and tempting Wesley in ways that may or may not confirm the sisters’ most paranoid suspicions. Dripping with retro, low-budget style and the uniquely bizarre humor of Oklahoma City’s prolific director Mickey Reece (Strike; Dear Mistress, and Cure His Heart), Climate of the Hunter walks a tightrope between absurdity and melodrama, campy horror and soap opera. Underneath a singular stylistic vision is a subtle exploration of genre films, loneliness, and the portrayals of mental illness in cinema.