Review: White Reindeer (Zach Clark, 2013)

White Reindeer is screening at the 8^th Possible Worlds Festival of American and Canadian Cinema, which runs between 8-18 August at Dendy Opera Quays and Dendy Newtown. Ticket purchases and program information can be found here (link: www.possibleworlds.net.au)

Written, directed and edited by provocative indie filmmaker, Zach Clark (Rock and Roll Eulogy, Modern Love is Automatic and Vacation!, which I will now endeavour to seek out), White Reindeer is a beguiling Christmas film that takes on peculiar odds. Set in pristine suburban Virginia, the fake veneer of brightly coloured festive accessories used to stifle the dark and sombre mood is doubly a comment on the spirit of the holiday and the protagonist’s compensation for the loss of her infectious holiday cheer. Clark’s film is populated with an ensemble of strange and sympathetic characters and is both a darkly comic look at American suburbia and a quietly devastating character study. Embalmed with enough sweetness, pathos and awkward humour to lighten the mood, White Reindeer jabs at our emotions, to profound effect, without being extraordinary.

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