Make Believe Seattle 2023 Review: In KC Carthew’s POLARIS, A Star Is Born
It’s not every year that a genre film comes and mesmerizes you the way KC Carthew’s Polaris does. Inevitably the film takes its inspiration from other epics to create something very different from what moviegoers are used to seeing, all the while the result is an action-packed, epic fantasy fable that hits all the right notes.
Its youngest and lead star was eleven years old at the time of its filming slate, with Korean-Canadian actress Viva Lee taking the reins as a uniquely-gifted young girl raised by a polar bear and has long since survived accordingly. Her origins unknown, her peaceful co-existence with the white-driven snowy wilderness that surrounds her is snatched upon discovering loggers chopping down trees, who then take her as captive to their junkyard fortress. An opportune moment arrives not before long to escape, resulting in a deadly chase by the village’s army of hunters and raiders that finds our young heroine in the care of an old loner.
The pursuit definitely doesn’t end there as it’s soon revealed that the same violent marauders have come into the possession of a mysterious woman inside a sleek, silver-plated coffin. What follows comes par for the course with a film like Polaris, and a character like the young protagonist in question whose gifts, and her sybilline connection to a beaming purple star in the sky may hold the key to something far greater.
Polaris is set in a wintery dystopia, the setting being the presumed aftermath of mankind’s decisions all leading to an infectious toxic goo poisoning the wildlife and the trees – a catalyst that has otherwise resulted in a fight for survival in a world where seemingly few men exist. The film’s script is almost entirely perpetually physical and suggestive, with few words spoken in an original dialect created for the film absent the use of subtitles, interestingly, with Lee’s character exhibiting an esoteric conveyance with nature, her animal co-star, played by “Agee” and trained by Mark Dumas and his team at Beyond Bears. Even the trees talk to her, and at least one scene reveals a graveyard of tree stumps that invoke trauma and horror left by the ravening hunters.
One other larger mystery about the film’s sci-fi element is the role played by Khamisa Wilsher. She’s firstly seen frozen lifeless in her presumed tomb, with her livelier entrance into the film made possible only by our heroine – the start of a burgeoning friendship that far less explains the histories of both characters. The elusive answer to that inquiry, as the film tells it, lies in the stars, and therein brings us the adventurous and often tumultuous journey that makes Polaris such a compelling film to gaze at for most of its runtime.
The film’s stunt sequences, shepherded by Angelica Lisk-Hann and coordinator Joey Racki, make ample use of Lee’s own martial arts training, in combination with her screen presence. Lee’s performance is immersive and all-consuming, and when thrown into the fire of fight choreography, becomes even more arresting. Lee’s role is an acutely feral and instinctive one, playful and peaceful, mesmerized by the star above, and is in the best company when with her bear. She’s also a survivor, and violent as hell, when it’s necessary, and reminding you of this fact, when it’s necessary, and reminding you of this fact is what happens roughly around thirteen minutes in.
The ending is what’s beguiling, and that’s fine. Carthew’s film, a co-production between the Yukon, Quebec, and Ontario, is a story that basically puts itself out there at a certain point in a timeline, and gives us something we can either take or leave. And not for nothing either. Polaris is an atmospherically intense ecological thriller that’s as wild as it is cerebral, and with a nascent, talented star who is ripe for the occasion.
Polaris was screened for the 2nd annual Make Believe Seattle Film Festival.
Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.
You must log in to post a comment.