Mare's Nest | TIFF50

In Mare's Nest, Ben Rivers (dir.) explores an alternative world in which children run wild and adults are no where to be found (as in, they seem to have ceased to exist). The film follows Moon (Moon Guo-Barker) as she explore this world and encounters children representing a variety of archetypes, such as a sage and their translator, as well as a turtle named Jeffrey.

For fans of experimental, abstract filmmaking, this may be the film for you. The film comprises a variety of vignettes following Moon through different encounters steeped in metaphor and symbolism. I will say that the method wasn’t quite for me, however those interested in an experimental format may find lots to glean from the form. It reminded me a lot of the looped short films played in art exhibitions, often abstract in expression, but rich with meaning under the surface.

The children in the film often deliver the lines with a monotone affect, perhaps a representation of the seemingly adult words and musings that speak through them. Some of the most affecting moments are when the children get to just be kids, be that through a pillow fight or hopscotch. After spending so much time with these children musing on grandiose problems, you feel relief for them when they can just be, without the weight of the world on their shoulders. There are also many more moments of contrast, of beauty amidst desolation, hope amidst nihilism.

In the film there is a vignette based on on Don DeLillo's The Word for Snow wherein Moon and her peers stand in for the various characters in this one-act play. It is a strange but poignant moment in the piece, as the metaphors of climate catastrophe, extinction, memory, and meaning made and lost through language become clear. It is unsettling, confusing, and moving all at once.

Despite not fully “getting it”, I really admire the film's swings to creatively explore the metaphors it seeks to represent. It left me with the following reflections: play is an essential form of ritual, discovery and curiosity are underrated, and in a bleak world, making space to uplift the wisdom of children will lead to a better future for us all.