Fantastic Fest 2023: A GUIDE TO BECOMING AN ELM TREE

As Fantastic Fest approached, I was truly hoping for a good ol’ fashion ghost story, a haunting that drives one to madness, the lives of the dead reunited with the living. Thankfully, writer and director Adam Mann and Skye Mann‘s A Guide to Becoming an Elm Tree not only delivered on the core basics of a ghost story, but elevated itself to reach even further with the lore of the Irish Isles.

Getting to the Root of the Matter

A Guide to Becoming an Elm Tree opens with a an old Celtic quote – ” Treachery returns to the treacherous.” It works well to ground the film within an instant sense of ominous foreboding, the transition from title card to black and white giving the film a sense of history and time. Combined with a tight framing in its aspect ratio and at times extreme close ups, A Guide to Becoming an Elm Tree feels authentically old and tightly compressed. Early on, it encompasses the human emotion of grief that has existed since the dawn of man, the claustrophobic nature of loss compressing even the strongest being into the worst of decisions.

For Padraig (James Healy-Meaney), the loss of his wife has bordered on unbearable, his need to do something in the wake of her death bringing him to the home of local carpenter John (Gerry Wade). Petitioning John to teach him how to make a coffin, Padraig’s attempt to keep any lasting connection to his wife takes a dark and treacherous turn.

A Guide to Becoming an Elm Tree opens meditatively, the camera focused on the treetops, working to zero in on the bark of its trunk. Often times throughout the film, the camera maintains this meditative feel, the Manns holding the camera steady and letting the action play out. It is never in a rush to move the film along, allowing the lore of the forest and the trees to reveal itself in due course. At times, audiences will feel the compression of the film, almost willing it to move along. In this sense, the film crafts a cathartic nature in its long held sequences, matching that of the grief of Padraig.

He wants it to be over, unable to move on following his loss. The film’s opening conversation between Padraig and John shows how much Padraig is willing to do in order to satisfy his grief. He offers to buy the carpenter out for the month, offering double what he makes. He never asks how much it will cost him, just states it will be done. When it comes time for Padraig to chop down the elm tree for the wood, he walks right up to the tree, John noting that for someone who has never chopped a tree down he is short on questions. It sets up an authenticity to Padraig’s treacherous decisions against the vails of life and death. In his attempt to call on the power of the forest to alleviate his grief, he never asked what the consequences might be.

Conclusion:

A Guide to Becoming an Elm Tree is a film that will sneak up on you. There are moments when you will feel it starting to slow down, but you will be surprised how impossible it is to look away. There is a hauntingly deep fissure of understanding that anyone who has lost a loved one will feel as they witness the downfall of Padraig. Padraig becomes haunted by his decisions, joyous in the immediate aftermath but treacherous in his actions.

Feeling ancient in it origin, yet modern in its catharsis, A Guide to Becoming an Elm Tree is one of the biggest surprises out of Fantastic Fest. A refreshing haunting wrapped in the warmth of Irish lore, A Guide to Becoming an Elm tree is one of the must see films of this year’s Fantastic Fest.