Worth: $10.00
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Cast:
Vincent De Paul, Camila Rodriguez, Roe Dunkley, Crist Moward
Intro:
… a curious piece of southern Gothicism at first glance, but it unfortunately doesn’t keep the interest for long.
The Welder is the feature length debut from filmmaker David Liz, co-written with Manuel Delgadillo and one which, like Get Out and 2019’s Black Christmas, tries to mould the humble horror movie into a more socially aware piece of work. For Liz, this means tackling racism, performative activism and PTSD. It’s a big ask of a film with shades of Friday the 13th and The Island of Dr Moreau… so, how well does it do?
Camila Rodriquez plays Eliza, whose time as an army medic has left her with indelible trauma. This trauma presents itself through bouts of sleepwalking, which, in the film’s opening, sees Eliza nearly drown in a pool. Her partner Roe (Roe Dunkley) is trying to be patient, but her refusal to talk about her issues is driving a wedge between them. Instead of some intense therapy to really explore her feelings, Roe books the couple in for a holiday in the Florida swamplands where there is next to no phone signal. It’s the perfect weekend away!
Once there, Roe’s booking looks less than ideal – the pool is a write off for a start – but their host, William Godwin (Vincent De Paul), appears to be agreeable enough. Okay, he’s bordering on creepy. However, having horrifically lost his wife a few years earlier, a man is allowed to have a few foibles, right?
Having established Eliza to have mental health issues, Liz uses this to lay seeds of doubt when she begins to suspect that all is not okay on the ranch. Although she begins to mistrust Godwin and his ranch hand, Don (Crist Moward), her concerns are unheard by Roe.
Over a warm plate of Haggis, Godwin tells the couple about his dream to completely eradicate the very notion of racism and unbeknown to them, it has something to do with the bulky man in the welder’s mask who watches them through the window when they sleep.
Comparisons to Get Out can seem a bit on the nose, but it’s hard to not think about Jordan Peele’s gamechanger. This is, after all, another film where white people reckon they know how to solve all the world’s ills.
Without ruining the big reveal, Godwin feels like a stand-in for white saviorism. Having been in an interracial marriage himself, he feels that he understands what it’s like to be people of colour, like Roe and Eliza, in modern America. As such, he’s blinded to the fact that his one size fits all ‘cure’ for racism can only ever do more harm than good. Perhaps he’s blinded by the love of a lost wife. Perhaps he’s blinded by the blood and viscous gore that makes up part of the experiment in the basement. Who’s to say?
As a slasher film, certain horror fans are going to be disappointed. The advertised Welder is not in the same category as Jason, Michael or even Cropsy from The Burning. Neither is the film that successful as a social horror. Similar to Paul Haggis’ Crash, Liz’s message is so overt that there’s nothing else to really sink your teeth into. Eliza’s PTSD is a perfect springboard to shine a light into some dark areas, but it tends to be a trait that is picked up and dropped depending on what the film needs it do.
Overall, The Welder is a curious piece of southern Gothicism at first glance, but it unfortunately doesn’t keep the interest for long.
