Wild Eyed and Wicked is a flawed but earnest film from writer-director Gordon Shoemaker Foxwood. We meet Lily (Molly Kunz) as she is trudging through life as a fencing instructor while attempting to shake the traumatic echos from her past. Having witnessed her mother Silvia (Stefanie Estes) die in front of her at a young age, nearly every moment in her life is diligently achieved with monumental effort. Lily’s mental demons begin to take shape and she must confront them. We might have had something if the film were at least half as exciting as the title. Wild Eyed and Wicked is a monotonous exploration of a trauma cycle, highlighted by some wonderful performances and an all-too-important message.

To her credit, Lily is attempting to live a normal life and move forward. No, she still doesn’t talk to her father Gregory (Michael X. Sommers) that lives a few hours away in her childhood home in the country. But Lily does have a regular video chat with her therapist Genevieve (Colleen Camp), and is navigating a blossoming relationship with Willow (Claire Saunders). As the 20th anniversary of her mother’s death approaches, Lily’s father invites her back home to gain some closure and do a little reconnecting.

When Lily reluctantly agrees to journey back home, the memories come flooding back. It’s hard enough to spend time with a father that you were never close to. But the two have quite a lot to unpack about the death of their beloved wife/mother, both figuratively and literally. Soon enough Lily begins having disturbing visions of a lanky dark figure with stringy hair and piercing eyes skulking around the property and getting ever closer to her. At this same time, Lily learns of her mother’s fixation with medieval history and relics. This includes a full suit of armor and a tome that documents demons from the Dark Ages. The action bounces between Lily and encounters with the monster, Lily digging through boxes to learn about her mom, and Lily having long, drawn-out conversations with her estranged dad.

What kills everything is the sluggish pace the film maintains and the repetitive scenes. Foxwood has some deeply personal and important things to cover, but some scenes could have easily been combined or cut altogether for the sake of rhythm and pacing. We know that Lily has a hard time with her dad. But how many long, ponderous moments of reflection do we need?

Thankfully the performances are very good. Kunz is very good as Lily, oftentimes capturing flickers of honesty in her performance that feel genuine. Sommers elevates the material that he is given, playing Lily’s isolated father with more than the usual cliché behaviors. The two together have a very believable chemistry that makes us lean into the action and really hope for a positive outcome.

As stated at the outset, Gordon Shoemaker Foxwood has a lot to say here and the effort is admirable. Fantastical demons are used as a metaphor for mental illness and the cycle of abuse but the film gets far too bogged down in the emotional notes it’s trying to hit instead of just making them happen. Wild Eyed and Wicked is an admirable attempt at magical realism and fantasy drama, but the journey has one pace. Slow.