It’s hard to really discuss what “The Wanting Mare” actually is. It’s a fantasy film, partially. It’s a massive world-building adventure, occasionally. The feature film is also just stunningly beautiful. But to try to explain the plot and intricacies of the new film is a bit of a fool’s errand. Just watch the trailer.
As seen in the trailer, “The Wanting Mare” is a visually stunning epic that spans decades in the life of one woman, Moira, as she tries desperately to leave her home and venture off into the unknown. The fantasy film stars Jordan Monaghan, Yasmin Keshtkar, Edmond Cofie, Josh Clark, Christine Kellogg-Darrin, and Nicholas Ashe Bateman. In addition to acting in the film, Ashe Bateman also wrote and directed the feature.
And according to the press release for the film, “The Wanting Mare” is just “first, intimate chapter in a long line of films about the people, places, and legends of Anmaere.” Also, it should be mentioned that Shane Carruth (of “Primer” and “Upstream Color” fame) is no longer involved with this film, as a producer, given recent #MeToo controversies. Even though he was previously associated with the film, as soon as the news came to light about his abusive behavior, the folks involved with the film immediately removed him from the project, according to those familiar with the situation.
READ MORE: Shane Carruth Says Retirement Is Coming In 3 Years; Suggests ‘Modern Ocean’ Is Dead
Interestingly, as you watch the trailer, understand that the film was shot almost entirely inside a warehouse in Paterson, New Jersey. This goes to show just how good Nicholas Ashe Bateman is at his day job as Visual Effects Supervisor on films such as “The Green Knight” and “Wendy.”
“The Wanting Mare” arrives in select theaters and VOD on February 5. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
In the world of Anmaere, north of the city of Whithren, wild horses run through the moorlands and up the coast. These horses are the city’s most valuable export and, as a result, are hunted, trapped, sold, and shipped across the sea once a year. For those in Whithren, this trade passage creates lucrative and exciting possibilities: the chance to escape their constantly sweltering city and escape to the Western continent of Levithen, or simply to begin again. Meanwhile, in a small house just north of the city, a young woman dies in childbirth. Her last words are an attempt to tell her daughter of the life she’ll have and her inheritance of a recurring dream that must be kept secret — for it contains the memories of another age long before us, one where magic and myth were alive in the world. That daughter now left behind is Moira. She grows alone in Whithren, without anyone to explain her dream, her unique difference, or her place in the world. As a result, she resolves to leave Whithren at all costs, and employs the help of Lawrence, a wounded young man engaged in the criminal enterprise of stealing tickets. This begins a series of events that echo over the next thirty-five years of their life, the life of a child found screaming on the rocks, and through the alleys and coasts of Whithren… a city hidden in the fog, wanting in heat, now beginning again.
UPDATE: The article previously mentioned that Shane Carruth was still involved in the film, but that has been changed, as the filmmaker is no longer a part of “The Wanting Mare.”