The Wanting Mare was a true visual wonder. Craggy shoals paired with dilapidated futuristic high rise apartments make for a unique and engaging setting. Unfortunately, the visual impressiveness of the film could not carry the weight of the ambiguous storyline and lack of character development. 

We’re introduced to the world of Anmaere and within it lies Whithren, an island soaked in near-constant heat (proven by the excessive amounts of sweat glistening off of every single character). The sweaty miserable citizens of Whithren spend their days in what appears to be a beautiful dystopian nightmare. The island’s biggest export is horses and once a year, these prized ponies are shipped across the sea to the perpetual winter wonderland that is Levithen. Tickets aboard the vessel bound for Levithen are available, but they are rare and highly sought after. And in a hot dystopian society, you can imagine what deeds of malice someone is willing to do for a ticket out. 

Out of this demented world, we meet Moira (Jordan Monaghan), a mysterious young woman cursed with a recurring dream that her mother had and her mother before that and so on. This dream tells of a world before, a world with magic. She feels drawn to the world of Levithen and desperately wants a ticket out. Through a series of chance events, Moira meets Lawrence (Nicholas Ashe Bateman), a member of a seedy group looking for tickets, and the hunt for a ticket begins. 

If you are a little confused don’t worry, so was I. The story being told time hops over at least the course of 40 years. We see Moira as a baby, a young adult, and as an aged woman (Christine Kellogg-Darrin). We see future generations after Moira endure the same futile search for a ticket. That is a lot of ground to cover in 89 minutes. There are several questions that remained unanswered (this may have been intentional but if so, that was lost on me) that feel less like artistic choice and more like a story that needed more fleshing out.

The overall tone of the film is pretty grim, and that is not a bad thing. Just about everything in the presented world is doom and gloom and the characters are left to desperately search for any modicum of joy or hope. That being said, the constant listlessness began to feel a little tiresome, especially when no character was around long enough to emotionally connect with them. 

That being said, any gripes I have about the story are minimized when considering the absolutely stunning visual elements of The Wanting Mare. Nicholas Ashe Bateman created a world so visually stunning I wish we could have seen even more of it. Bateman relied primarily on special FX for the creation of Anmaere (over 500 special FX shots to be exact) and the result is something out of a dream. The primitive and industrial collide while shrouded in mist, creating sensational landscapes. The innovation, ingenuity, and patience shown in these beautiful panoramas is proof you don’t need a blockbuster budget to make a gorgeous film with incredible creativity.

A great deal of time, effort, and love went into the creation of The Wanting Mare and it shows. The cast gave enjoyable performances though stifled by a story too vast for the time allotted. The unique landscapes and incredible sound mixing will be enough to draw you in, I will leave it up to you to decide if the story is enough to make you stay. I very much look forward to seeing what new worlds writer/director Nicholas Ashe Bateman has for us to explore next.

6 out of 10