Ethan Hawke directs his daughter Maya in a biopic about author Flannery O’Connor in Wildcat. Flannery O’Connor (Maya Hawke) is a deeply Catholic aspiring writer from New York of the 1950s. While travelling to Kentucky to visit her mother Regina (Laura Linney), Flannery is diagnosed with Lupus, a condition that previously took the life of her father. Losing mobility, Flannery expresses her thoughts and conflicts in her deeply personal short stories.
Wildcat Synopsis
Wildcat is an unconventional biopic about American author Flannery O’Connor co-written and directed by Ethan Hawke. The film stars Hawke’s daughter Maya (Stranger Things) as Flannery O’Connor, as well as the protagonists of adaptations of O’Connor’s short stories. The stories reflect what’s going on in Flannery O’Connor’s life, including her personal conflicts involving her Catholic faith.
My Thoughts on Wildcat
Wildcat arguably peaks in its opening scene, which takes the form of a scandalous 1950s film trailer. Sadly, the main plot of the film ends up being a major bore. Ethan Hawke seems to be contrasting the bleak nature of story with the very risqué content of Flannery O’Connor’s story, which include among other things a vision of Jesus saying the N-word and a travelling bible salesman stealing a woman’s wooden leg. Apart from a surprise uncredited cameo that happens late in the film, Wildcat is ultimately a drab piece of Oscar-bait that never really meshed with me.
