The Misguided

The feature film debut of Australian filmmaker Shannon Alexander, The Misguided is a dark comedy about two brothers, at war with themselves. Wendell, ostensibly the older of the two (he looks it; Steven J Mihaljevic physically dominating every room he’s in), and Levi (Caleb Galati) are both at a crossroads when we meet them. Levi has just been dumped by his live-in girlfriend and needs a place to crash; Wendell, a relapsed crack addict, needs stability and a creative way to get his next hit (without the money to pay for it). You might be duped into thinking Levi’s brief stay with Wendell will be the cause of bad things to come – instead, it’s the catalyst, for Levi’s presence in Wendell’s home brings him face-to-face with Wendell’s sort-of-girlfriend Sanja (Jasmine Nabali), and complications ensue.

Sanja had, in good conscience, loaned Wendell her car for a few days. Wendell, allowing himself to believe that Sanja had given him the car as a gift, had intended to use the car as collateral to buy crack from his affable dealer.

Sanja, understandably, is somewhat stranded without a car and, unable to contact Wendell, visits his house to retrieve it with her younger sister Vesna in tow (Katherine Langford, of 13 Reasons Why and Love, Simon fame). When Sanja meets Levi, there is instant chemistry, and, Sanja being somewhat disillusioned by Wendell’s behaviour, flirts happily with Levi. Over the course of an evening, the two begin a relationship.

Sanja and her family are well-off (declaring she has “$100,000 in savings” at one point) and the collision of her family’s entrenched prejudice and Levi’s poor character reference (read: Wendell, Sanja’s most recent ex, is his brother) ends in violence. Sanja immediately moves out of home, and in with Levi, who – you mustn’t forget – is still living with Wendell.

Even so the conflict doesn’t come until much later, where Levi begins to feel inferior in his relationship with Sanja, as it hurtles toward a serious one. Disillusioned by their home of Perth, they make plans to move to Melbourne, but they want more money. Sanja, as already stated, has money; Levi, unable to find a job “without qualifications” starts thinking he may be able to use Wendell’s drug habit to his own monetary advantage. He turns to Wendell for help, and the two of them concoct a plan behind Sanja’s back – both inordinately pleased by their ingenuity. Perhaps you can imagine how well their plan works out.

The film boasts a relatively unknown cast – Langford, aside – who deliver solid performances (although, admittedly, for a self-described “dark comedy” their comedic timing is not always in tune), as Alexander’s brusque edit urges the film along. Though not particularly polished, The Misguided is an interesting – if imperfect – debut, that is surprisingly circumspect, if little else.

The Misguided
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