Like countless other Australian tourists, two couples escape to a world
of colour, street vendors and full-moon parties fuelled by temptation and
excess. One of them doesn't return home. Wish You Were Here explores
the repercussions of such decadence as married couple Alice (Felicity Price,
who also co-wrote the film with producer Kieran Darcy-Smith, her husband) and
Dave (Joel Edgerton) return to Sydney with Alice's sister Steph (Teresa
Palmer), but without her boyfriend Jeremy (Antony Starr). The
premise is simple enough, but a night of drug fuelled partying makes way for a
slow-burning narrative wherein infidelity, betrayal, violence and secrets
splits the seams of the lives of all involved.
Just like Christos
Tsiolkas’ The Slap, Wish You Were Here chronicles the aftermath of a single
event without much backstory, the catalyst for progression being the response
of the characters both individually and with each other. A swirling
nonlinear storyline gives little glimpses into both the past and present,
backtracking from that night in Cambodia to the weeks after in Sydney. This
means that we barely get to become involved with the characters - Jeremy, for
example, is treated with detached contempt simply because he is missing. Because
of this, the actions and thoughts of the other characters remain, on the
surface, mostly unreasoned for most of the film. The relationship between
Alice and Dave becomes increasingly complex and intensified without hope as the
film shifts to familial trauma, but again this allows the audience to build
what it may from the events in Cambodia. There were moments I was
frustrated by the lack of dialogue but as the characters slowly became
unconcealed, alongside the narrative, the motives of Darcy-Smith became even
clearer. This filmmaking is the kind that I love for its deeply
considered actions that, in this case of a psychological drama, make the film
even more enjoyable.
The visually beautiful locations of Sydney and Cambodia are given the
honest representations they deserve, without the point of excess. The
lurk of danger behind the lushness of these locations, and the concealing of
their polar opposites, is evoked in the simple shifts of light and soft, subtle
camera work. Stunning to the eye in the same way the characters have been
attracted to these locations in the first place, we are reminded of the anxiety
and dread created in these idylls. The beaches of South East Asia and
indeed, the naturalism of a suburban waterfront home, are marred with
foreboding and a slow-eating decay.
Fluid
cinematography and well-handled editing dips you in and out of flashbacks that
are sometimes sensible, sometimes extravagant. In a lot of ways I was
reminded of Martha Marcy May Marlene, which I saw earlier this year
- the stifled atmospheres, ambiguous narrative and the hypnosis of
psychological drama. Although not as ethereal, Wish You Were Here hits
closer to the heart purely due to its relatable characters, which are so
obvious in mentality but are often not portrayed to deserving accuracy in film.
Many of the reviews I read on this film were critical of the heavy use
of structural manipulation and the awareness of information being withheld from
the audience. While this is an unmissable trait of psychological drama I
definitely don't think that the ending was ill handled or a let down. If
anything, the logicality of the final sequence and the fact that I didn't think
about it happening during the entire film highlights Darcy-Smith's impressive
ability to bind and submerge the viewer. It is only when his hold is
relinquished - at the end - that you resurface and realise the immensity of the
film's depth.
The emotional honesty of the characters is what made this film so
enjoyable; to see seemingly perfect lives fracture is frequented in
storytelling, however maintaining believable reasoning for such emotions is
not. This achieved, Wish You Were Here is genuinely
involving and intense.
