The film opens with Kesley running football drills by
himself in the yard, getting ready to try out for the team. Katherine is
inside, looking for clean clothes. It’s the score that sets the serious tone
immediately, as there is no dialogue in these opening shots. What’s interesting
is that after establishing the home life of these two characters, the film then
takes us to two missionaries, one testing the other with various scenarios to
see which biblical passages he’ll refer to for each given problem. As with the
first shots of Kesley, the camera does not focus or linger much on their faces,
but rather on the details of what they’re doing. The film takes us back and
forth between these two worlds, and it’s interesting to get that other
perspective, and learn a bit about how the missionaries live and conduct their
business.
Katherine works in a salvage yard while also studying
toward a degree. We learn that her mother died a couple of months ago and that
she’s separated from her husband, and so is in a fragile place. After she tells
a customer about her mother’s death, the film goes to shots of some of the old,
broken cars while we hear her crying, before we finally see her seated in one
of them. It’s a nice choice, and I really appreciate the way the film presents
these characters and the information.
While Katherine is trying to help her son with football
drills, the two Mormons interrupt to try to talk about Jesus. Katherine
politely declines, but when Elder Kevin Brock tosses Kesley the football, she
asks him to toss him a few more, since she’s unable to throw the ball well
herself, and making the team is very important to her son. When he gets his
white shirt dirty, Katherine lends him a clean one, and sees his build while he
changes. Later, after Kevin compliments her, she impulsively kisses him.
Interestingly, the film then cuts to her in the car with Kesley (presumably
driving him to football tryouts), while her mind is clearly elsewhere. We see
her thoughts and changing emotions play on her face, including a close-up of
her mouth as she smiles. The sequence is done lovingly, delicately,
beautifully, and without dialogue.
Kevin received a prophecy about finding his family from a
church leader, and reveals that he believes this prophecy actually refers to
Katherine and Kesley. Uh-oh. He begins talking about their sacred union. He’s
handsome, but demented. Unfortunately, Katherine has fallen asleep while he was
talking and so hasn’t heard his craziest and most obsessive thoughts (a bit
contrived, but okay). And when Kevin learns that Katherine and Ian are going to
give their marriage another shot, he becomes a bit unhinged.
The film at this point becomes a sort of Fatal
Attraction. While we’ve seen this story line before, this film really does
present a new and somewhat refreshing take on it, a new angle. What I like is
that this film takes its time setting up these characters, and letting us
really get to know them. In fact, for me, the film is more interesting in the
first half, before Kevin becomes a villain. But what’s also good is that once
Katherine learns about Kevin, she handles things in an intelligent manner, and
that is also refreshing. She does what any of us would likely do in that
situation, and because of that we’re really with her, rather than simply
watching her. The film takes what could be a by-the-numbers story, and gives us
a something intelligent and original. A good deal of the appeal is due to
some really good performances by the leads as well as by supporting players.
These characters feel like they really inhabit this world. I also like the
score of this film. And the soundtrack includes an interesting rendition of
A-ha’s “Take On Me,” done by A.C. Newman.
Missionary was directed by Anthony DiBlasi, and was
released on DVD on January 6, 2015. Note: My screener copy did not contain any
special features.
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