American Fable is true to its name, often playing out like something of a dark fairy tale in the country's heartland, but the fantastical elements heavily featured in the trailer and on the cover art are only a small aspect of the film. And, despite a similar penchant for showing a wide-eyed kid on a bike, it's not a Spielbergian coming-of-age adventure either; it's best described as a drama, though mystery/thriller elements are present to propel the plot forward.
Slightly misleading marketing aside, American Fable is a dynamic feature debut from writer-director Anne Hamilton. It's set in the 1980s, sold by snippets of President Ronald Reagan on the family's static-riddled television. But the year is largely irrelevant; Hamilton instead focuses on capturing a rural Americana timelessness. She immerses viewers in rustic visuals with the aid of Wyatt Garfield's (Beatriz at Dinner) sun-drenched cinematography. The young director began as an intern on The Tree of Life, and it's apparent that she learned a thing or two under Terrence Malick’s guidance.
The story revolves around Gitty (Peyton Kennedy, Odd Squad), a young girl with an affinity for storytelling. Her father (Kip Pardue, The Rules of Attraction) is struggling to keep their family farm afloat amidst the farm crisis, while her pregnant mother (Marci Miller, Death Race 2050) works in a factory in an effort to make ends meet. The family dynamic is rounded out by Gitty's rotten older brother (Gavin MacIntosh, The Fosters).
The plot doesn't really get moving until the end of the first act, when Gitty becomes a part of a real-life fairy tale; she discovers a man named Jonathan (Richard Schiff, The West Wing) imprisoned in a silo on their property. Gitty and Jonathan form an unconventional friendship, bonding over stories and games. Gitty wants to help the man, secretly bringing him food and books, but she's mature enough to surmise that her family is responsible for his entrapment. Meanwhile, she experiences nightmarish visions of a Maleficent-esque horned character (Zuleikha Robinson, Lost) roaming the countryside by horse.
Although Gitty is portrayed as an 11-year-old girl, her simplistic dialogue and overall childlike innocence feel as though they were written for an even younger actress. Nevertheless, Kennedy shares a good dynamic with Schiff, who is the highlight of the show. Pardue excels in a couple of meaty scenes as the conflicted patriarch. Robinson has a dual role as two mysterious characters: a business woman and the being in Gitty's dreams. Horror fans will recognize Rusty Schwimmer (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday) as the bumbling local cop who lightens the tone and Theresa Tilly (The Evil Dead) as Jonathan's sister.
Unlike most IFC Midnight titles, which receive physical releases in a partnership with Scream Factory, American Fable's home video release is distributed by MPI Media Group. They opted not to release it on Blu-ray, which is a shame considering how well-shot the picture is. To watch it in high definition, you'll need to pick it up on VOD. The DVD features three deleted scenes totaling 5 minutes, three behind-the-scenes still galleries (costume design, silo build, and silo sketch), and the trailer.
The parallels between American Fable and Pan's Labyrinth cannot be denied. Not only are the stories thematically analogous, but American Fable's horned creature could be a relative to the mythological faun from Pan's Labyrinth. American Fable, with its surrealism occasionally coming at the expensive of logical narrative progression, isn't nearly as affecting as Guillermo del Toro's foreign masterpiece, but its an admirable American complement.
American Fable is available now on DVD via MPI Media Group.
