The powerful drama written and directed by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. will be available in limited theatrical release and on streaming platforms Sept. 3.
Michael Greyeyes is so damn good in Wild Indian that it’s almost scary. Of course, that’s altogether appropriate, considering how he’s supposed to be scary while playing a man bent on keeping a tight lid on his rage, and not always succeeding. It’s a mesmerizing performance, one that should start generating awards-season buzz real soon.
But don’t take my word for it: You can see for yourself when the powerful indie drama — a exceptionally promising first feature written and directed by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. — is released Sept. 3 on streaming platforms and in limited theatrical release.
The official Vertical Entertainment synopsis: “Decades after covering up his classmate’s murder, Michael (Michael Greyeyes) has moved on from his reservation and fractured past. When a man who shares his violent secret seeks vengeance, Michael goes to great lengths to protect his new life with his wife (Kate Bosworth) and boss (Jesse Eisenberg) from the demons of his past.”
This newly released trailer should pique your interest.
Wild Indian had its world premiere last fall at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was enthusiastically praised by discerning critics. Peter Howell of The Toronto Star wrote: “Writer/director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. fired up Sundance 2021 with his feature debut, an Indigenous drama of delayed reckoning for past evil that plays like a classic tragedy. Canada’s Micahel Greyeyes is sensational as an Ojibwe man, living an affluent and assimilated life in California, whose violent past as a neglected teen in Wisconsin — and a guilty secret shared with a childhood friend (Chaske Spencer) — return to stalk him. A lean script alert to character and nuance, and Corbine’s taut direction, showcase the range and talent of Greyeyes, whose star rises.”
Tomris Laffly of Harpers Bazaar described Greyeye’s performance as “terrifying,” and hailed Corbine’s drama as “a searing, deeply American story of crime and remorse, rooted in the country’s generations-spanning past of unforgivable violence. A top-shelf addition to the Indigenous canon, Wild Indian pulsates with well-calibrated tension and a rare kind of vitality in its shrewd examination of today through the eyes of history.”
And Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter added his own voice to the chorus of approval: “Depicting the fateful aftermath of a horrific act of senseless violence committed by a young Indigenous boy, Wild Indian has the feel of Greek tragedy infused with film-noir fatalism… Greyeyes displays a taut physicality and simmering intensity that hold your attention every moment he’s onscreen.”
In our current issue, Greyeyes discusses why he was drawn to playing Michael — a.k.a. Makwa — in Wild Indian — and how the character could be viewed as a blood brother to Terry Thomas, the businessman he portrays on the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls.
“Obviously Makwa in Wild Indian has to prevent his full violence,” Greyeyes said. “We see actually how terrifying and violent he really is. He has to restrain himself, because that’s how he’ll get caught. But with Terry, he’s withholding it because that’s what he was taught. That’s how his generation operated. That’s how his parents’ generation operated. That’s how he was taught to behave, to hold his tongue, even when he could have rightly exploded. In both senses, the men were caught in the same bind: “What can I show as an Indigenous man?” But they chose not to show their complete selves for different reasons…
“Both characters are true manipulators. They understand human psychology, they understand things, but it comes from a place of power. And I think that’s the reason why I was attracted to these two characters, so vastly different from each other. But they were the same in that one regard — they were powerful men. And I think the kind of work that’s really appealing to me right now in my career is playing characters who are empowered. I’ve played a lot of tragic characters. Characters under the gun or under pressure or simply broken. But what appealed to me and what continues to appeal to me in the characters that I’m playing currently are that these are not victims. These are men in complete control of themselves and their environment.”
And you don’t ever want to see them angry.