VIGIL
Dir. Vincent Ward, 1984.
New Zealand. 90 min.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, APRIL 12 – MIDNIGHT
TUESDAY, APRIL 23 – 10 PM
MONDAY, APRIL 29 – 7:30 PM

The first New Zealand film ever to compete in Cannes, VIGIL is an unsettling, atmospheric drama about an eleven-year-old girl named Toss who witnesses the falling death of her father while out herding sheep on their remote farm. The only other witness is a mysterious hunter, Ethan, who carries her father’s body back home. Shortly afterward, Ethan begins working on the farm with Toss’s grandfather, Birdie. As Ethan’s relationship with her mother becomes sexually charged, Toss’s distrust toward him increases in complexity. We see the world through the eyes of a girl on the precipice of teenagehood as she experiences change, loss, and the invasion of her small, isolated world. Breathtaking imagery and unorthodox framing are complimented by composer Jack Body’s score, which combines synthesizers with string instruments to build a restrained soundscape that pierces the film’s potent, unreleased tension. This arthouse coming-of-age story, wearing the clothes of folk horror, is an indispensable contribution to the misty sheepcore canon.