Ethan Hawke crafts a meditative look at the drive inside of Flannery O’Connor to spotlight the broken beauty of her Southern culture in all of its glorious hypocrisy. Mystics like O’Connor feel a fever to share their vision with those who come after. Call it their mark, call it their calling, but often art allows a haunted soul to cast out the demons driving them to despair.
As Flannery’s physical body begins to break down, her will to complete one good story keeps her mind sharp and her spirit writhing. Her character arc is broken up by vignettes from the stories she creates, revealing connections between the two. Her stories intertwine with the sometimes bizarre moments from her life, and her writing allows her to try to make sense of it all somehow. And although she seems to despise the trappings of her Catholic upbringing, she can’t seem to escape religion as the main inspiration for the conflicts and imagery that imbue her stories. A truthsayer amongst her peers, O’Connor recognized the failures and weaknesses in herself and those around her, recognizing a need for God and refusing to look away from the ugliness others would like to ignore. Actress Maya Hawke portrays this with precision.
— Lindsey Dunn (2024), 1 of my Stories
Arts & Faith Lists:
2024 Arts & Faith Ecumenical Jury — #5