Friday, February 10, 2023

Now Showing: Scarlet

Scarlet
Genre: Horror/Supernatural/Superhero
Director: Leigh Janiak
Writer: Roy Horne
Based on Marvel Comics characters
Cast: Sadie Sink, Kate Winslet, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Christian Slater, Loren Dean, Betsy Brandt, Allie Marie Evans, Samantha Logan, Brandon Butler, Ione Skye, Laura Fraser

Plot: High schooler Wanda Frank (Sadie Sink) is day-dreaming about Jay Kirby (Brandon Butler) in class when she is called upon by her teacher, Miss Leigh (Ione Skye), to give a presentation. Wanda nervously stands up in front of the class, but before she can even speak, Jen Kesler (Allie Marie Evans) begins heckling her for having a crush on her boyfriend. Wanda freezes up under the pressure. Miss Leigh tells Jen to knock it off, but Jen just bursts out laughing. Jen's best friend Grace Norris (Samantha Logan) then chastises Jen into stopping her harassment of Wanda. Wanda storms out of the class upset. As she runs down the halls of the school toward the exit, unbeknownst to her, doors begin slamming shut as she passes them. Wanda runs all the way home to her house. As she bursts into the door, she walks in on her mother Madeline Frank (Betsy Brandt) and Robert Frank (Loren Dean) in the middle of a Bible study group in the living room. Robert volunteers to go and talk to Wanda to see what is the matter. He gently knocks on Wanda's door before entering. He asks her what's wrong, but Wanda has trouble articulating what happened at school. Madeline then enters the room and encourages Wanda to pray to God about what is upsetting her as God always has the answers. She then leads Wanda in prayer.

In a small motorhome, Natalya Maximoff (Kate Winslet) scours the news from throughout the region until she finds a story that piques her interest. She calls over her son Pietro (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). He asks where she wants him to investigate next, and she tells him that a school burned to the ground in Maine. Pietro races off, with a blur of super-speed, to Maine. He surveys the damage, quickly learning that the fire was caused by an accidental fire. He speeds back to his mother Natalya, informing her that his sister did not cause that damage. Natalya is disappointed but assures Pietro that they will eventually find her again and they can finally be a family together after all these years.

Wanda is at her locker to get her textbooks when Jay comes up to her and starts flirting with her. He asks her out on a date. Wanda agrees, but then Jen emerges and reveals that Jay was only jokingly asking her out at her behest. Everyone in the hallway begins laughing at Wanda. Wanda runs into the bathroom and hides out in a stall. She begins praying that Jen will kill herself. Red energy begins glowing around Wanda. Jen, in a trance, walks away from the crowd and to a stairwell to the roof of the school. Jay and Grace try to get her attention, but Jen seemingly ignores them. Jen hears Wanda's voice in her head, guiding her all the way to the roof of the school. A crowd gathers in front of the school, watching Jen at the edge. Wanda's voice tells Jen to step over the edge. Jen falls to the ground, breaking her neck as she hits the ground, killing her. Jay and Grace run over to Jen's dead body. Wanda finally leaves the bathroom and sees the crowd gathered outside. She asks what happened and another student says that Jen Kesler killed herself. Wanda is momentarily stunned. Miss Leigh runs outside and yells at everyone to get back inside.

When Wanda gets home, Madeline and Robert try to comfort her for the loss of her classmate. Wanda coldly tells them that she wanted Jen to die since she bullied her every day. Madeline slaps Wanda, telling her that was an evil thing to say at such a time. Robert is stunned by his wife's action, but does nothing to stop her. Wanda's eyes begin glowing red. Madeline begins crying that Wanda is possessed by the devil and that they never should have adopted her. The news that she is adopted takes Wanda by surprise. She begins floating in the middle of the room as her eyes continue to glow. Madeline and Robert both get down on their knees and begin to pray to God for forgiveness. Seeing how frightened her parents are, Wanda calms down and runs into her room, slamming the door shut behind her with her mind. Robert suggests to Madeline that Wanda needs professional help that no amount of praying can provide. Madeline crushes some sleeping pills into a cup of tea. She brings it to Wanda in her room, saying it is her apology for slapping her. Wanda sips the tea, before passing out. Madeline and Robert load Wanda into the car, restraining her in the back seat.

Wanda wakes up strapped to a chair in an white room. Her vision is blurry and her energy is low. She tries to use her abilities to break free from her restraints, but is too weak. Dr. Herbert Wyndham (Christian Slater) enters the room and sits down across from Wanda. She asks him where her parents are. Wyndham tells Wanda that her parents brought her to be treated by him at the Dunwich Psychiatric Hospital because they love her and are worried about what is going on with her. She tries to focus, glaring at Wyndham, but nothing happens. Wyndham informs Wanda that she has been given a sedative so she will not be able to use any of her abilities - no telekinesis, telepathy, mind control, energy disruption - nothing. She might as well be a normal human. Wyndham gives Wanda a tour around the facility while she wears a straight-jacket, and he explains to Wanda that she has a very powerful genetic mutation that has given her all kinds of abilities. He tells her that most "mutants" just have one or two abilities, but she has already demonstrated more than average. Wanda asks if her abilities can simply be cured. Wyndham says that there is a controversial cure for the mutant gene - the Hope Serum - but he has no intention of giving that to her. He explains that fame, fortune and recognition won't come to him by simply curing someone like Wanda, but rather from studying her. Wanda tries to break out of her straight-jacket. Wyndham notices a faint red glow start to appear. He calls over an orderly and has her give him another sedative. Wanda falls to the floor with a thud.

After running a battery of tests on the unconscious Wanda, Wyndham sends the results to Dr. Moira MacTaggert (Laura Fraser) asking for his patient's level of mutation. Moira looks over all of the data and tells Wyndham that she isn't so sure his patient actually is a mutant after all. He insists that she must be based on the abilities she has displayed. Moira urges Wyndham to be cautious as the patient may not be a mutant, but she may actually be something more powerful and dangerous all together. Wyndham becomes angry. He tells Moira that he knows exactly what he's doing with Wanda.

Wyndham holds a press event where he excitedly tells the reporters about Wanda's abilities, which he claims even Moira MacTaggert have stated are much more powerful than even the strongest mutant abilities ever reported. A reporter asks Wyndham if the patient is dangerous. Wyndham laughs at the question, insisting that has concocted a medication program that keeps the girl's powers almost completely negligible, allowing him to safely study the source. Another reporter asks why Wyndham is seemingly keeping an innocent girl in his hospital with no evidence that she's ever caused any harm. He then informs the press that through his research into the patient's recent background, it seems that she managed to use her powers to manipulate a classmate into killing herself as retribution for common bullying.

Pietro Maximoff sees a video clip of Dr. Wyndham’s press conference on the news. He races home in a blur of super speed to show the video to his mother. He asks her if she thinks that it could finally be his long lost baby sister. Natalya tells her son that they must leave for Dunwich Psychiatric Hospital at once. Natalya tells Pietro to use his abilities to get there and gather as much information as he can, but based on what the smug Wyndham says she believes they may have finally found what they are looking for. Pietro makes it to the hospital in a matter of seconds. He speeds into the hospital so fast that nobody has a chance to even notice. He looks through Wanda’s records. After reading through everything, he becomes convinced that Wanda is his sister. He speeds down the halls of the institution until he finds a doped up Wanda chained down in a room. He pulls all the needles out of her and tells her that once the sedatives have worn off she must use her powers to escape from the hospital.

Wanda wakes up, thinking she was dreaming until she sees all of the needles and wires have been pulled out of her. She hovers above the bed. Walls evaporate around her as she floats through the institute with purpose. Orderlies try to subdue her, but Wanda uses her powers to cause their bodies to disintegrate into nothingness as soon as they get near her. Wanda finally finds Wyndham. He gets down on his knees and begs her to spare him. He tries to convince Wanda that he was only trying to help her. Wanda tells Wyndham that she pities him and flies out of the hospital, landing in the parking lot. Wyndham calls after her, thanking Wanda for sparing him. Wanda looks back at the hospital and begins using her powers to crush the building into a giant ball of metal, glass and stone. Wyndham screams out as his body is ripped apart in the process. When Wanda is finished, all that remains of the Dunwich Psychiatric Hospital is a round pile of rubble.

Wanda begins walking away from the hospital when she is greeted by Pietro and Natalya. She recognizes Pietro as the man who helped her escape. Natalya gives Wanda a big hug. She tells Wanda that she has spent the past 16 years looking for her after she was taken away as a baby. Natalya and Pietro take Wanda to their campsite in the woods. Around a fire that night, Natalya explains to Wanda that her most powerful abilities stem from “chaos magic” - a form of magic that when carefully harnessed and practiced can manipulate, warp and reconstruct the very fabric of existence and reality.

In the morning, Natalya announces to Wanda and Pietro that they all must go to Wundagore Mountain in her home land of Transia. Pietro is confused since this is the first time his mother has ever mentioned Wundagore or Transia to him. Wanda asks how they will get there. Natalya tells Wanda to will it into existence. Wanda isn’t sure what that means and admits that she has no clue where in the world it is. Natalya insists that it doesn't matter and places her hand on Wanda’s forehead. Wanda then has flashes of the destination and suddenly all three of them find themselves at the base of the mountain. Natalya says they should camp there for the night before making the trip up to the top in the light of morning.

In the middle of the night, Pietro finds his mother praying to a being called Chthon. When he asks what she’s doing, she at first becomes defensive. She then however chooses to admit the real reason that they have spent so much time looking for Wanda. - Wanda was born simply to be a vessel for the Elder God of Chaos, Chthon. As she was in the process of offering the baby to Chthon as a vessel, she was stopped - but not before Chthon left a piece of himself inside of Wanda. This is what gives her the power of chaos magic. She now intends to take Wanda back up to the top of the mountain in order to allow the rest of Chthon into the Earth dimension. Pietro has become frightened of his mother’s plan.

In the morning, the group hikes up to the top of the mountain where they find a giant cave altar to Chthon. Pietro decides that he cannot go along with his mother’s plan to sacrifice Wanda. He explains what Natalya told him the night before. Natalya at first tries to deny it, but Wanda goes inside of her mind to learn the entire truth. Natalya begins summoning Chthon, who begins to take over Wanda’s body. Pietro tackles his mother, pausing the summoning of Chthon and allowing Wanda to regain control of her body. Wanda tells Natalya that she thought that she was finally going to be happy now that she had a real family, but she never imagined her real mom would be worse than her adoptive one. Wanda begins furiously building up energy. Pietro pleads with Natalya not to kill their mother, no matter what she has done. Wanda tells Pietro that she doesn’t plan on killing Natalya, but she will make sure she can never find her again. Wanda, using the extra power in her from Chthon, suddenly makes Natalya, the altar, and even the entire mountain completely disappear. Wanda and Pietro are all that is left, on the flat ground where Wundagore Mountain used to reside. Pietro asks where their mother and the mountain are now. Wanda assures Pietro that Natalya is safe and sound in another reality. Pietro blames himself for finding Wanda and setting everything into motion. Wanda comforts her newfound brother, insisting that it wasn't his fault - it was their mother’s fault all along. Pietro becomes emotional and distraught. He speeds away in a supersonic blur.

Wanda closes her eyes. When she opens them she finds herself in front of Jen Kesler’s grave back in her hometown. She stares at the gravestone. She focuses and closes her eyes, the skies above her turn a dark shade of scarlet. When she opens her eyes, Jen’s grave is gone. She walks to the high school, where she sees Jen and Grace talking on the front steps. Wanda then goes home, where her adoptive parents greet her warmly with milk and cookies. Wanda realizes that she has created a new reality around herself where the bad things she did never happened. Wanda teleports to the Dunwich Psychiatric Hospital and finds that it is still rubble though. Wanda floats above the destroyed hospital and uses chaos magic energy to blast the debris out of existence. Wanda then makes herself disappear.


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