Lost Bayou

Moviecut—Lost Bayou

I was drawn to this mostly obscure movie because of my own Cajun background. It was shot in Lafayette, where I went to college all those years ago, and in the Henderson swamp, the Atchafalaya Basin. The lead actress, Teri Wyble who plays Gal, grew up in Arnaudville, just a few miles from Lafayette, and her Pop is played by Dane Rhodes, a New Orleanian who does a pretty legitimate Cajun accent. She is stuck in a bad place, divorced with a young son that lives with his dad, she drinks too much and seems to be broke. She gets a call from Pop, come right now your mom is in a bad way. Gal is a bit wary, seeing as Mom died a few years earlier, but she hitches a ride in a boat to get to Pop's houseboat in the swamp. Pop is something of a faith healer but his success is spotty. And maybe he has lost a bit of touch with reality. (An aside, for those who don't know, a swamp is actually a very nice, clean area with few bugs because dragonflies eat everything. You may get alligators and snakes but you will not get bad smells, if it is a real swamp.) So most of the movie involves the father-daughter relationship, he was far from perfect when she was growing up, she is far from perfect now, but they still have the family bond and each can look for a brighter future. The movie-makers are for the most part inexperienced, it has a rather raw look and feel to it, the production values are not that high. But overall it is a worthwhile viewing for anyone who likes or is curious about the subject. A bonus is the background music is authentic Cajun music. I found it on Amazon streaming movies.

Slow-paced drama between father and daughter. Takes place on run-down houseboat on Louisiana Swamp. Not picturesque. Only two main characters. Excellent narrative structure, good resolutions. I liked how it all wrapped up at the end.

They say a freshly fired man thought of this movies plot as he left the Chrysler building with his desk. Not true. But whoever designed this world made leprosy hangovers a real thing. Timothy crane.

I'm surprised this film has only four other reviewers commenting as I write this. It deserves a wider audience and will probably find it in due course. At the same time, it won't appeal to everyone because of it's subject matter, and the characters, even though sympathetic to a degree, aren't very likeable. You realize pretty quickly that Pop (Dane Rhodes) isn't working with a full deck, and the estranged relationship he has with his daughter Gal (Teri Wyble) suggests an early exit on her part. But as the story progresses, situations conspire to bring them closer together, even if events in the story seem completely outlandish. Pop's belief in faith healing results in saving a man's life from a poisonous snake bite, while kissing a spark plug gets them on their way again in the Louisiana swamp Pop calls home. Both events can be explained away by coincidence, but with enough credibility that there may be something to it. By the time we get to the baptism style immersion of Sarah in the river, one almost expects the dead woman to come around in wide eyed wonder, but to maintain any kind of credibility in the story, Pop must confess that "Sometimes the answer is no, no matter how much you want it." Where things go off the rails for this viewer had to do with the idea that the Stranger (Hunter Burke) who lost his wife was so distraught that he went along with being buried along side her. For the principal character, the experience on the return to Gal's roots proved to be a redemptive one of sorts, though not enough perhaps to put her life entirely back in order. That would take a bit more than a handful of rosary beads.

This movie was haunting and beautiful. It is a tale of grief, mysticism and prodigal children. Wayward, addicted child returns to her father who is not doing well, mentally. She is trying to cope with the emotional black hole of having had her baby removed from her custody. The woman and father begin to renew their relationship and she learns some surprising things are taking place in and around the home. They meet a stranger in their journey, and the plot thickens. Could this stranger be the key to unlocking a mystery that surrounds them? This is an unforgettable character study, as well. It is deep, emotional, and slow-moving. If you require a fast pace and jump scares, this is not for you.

Being someone that spends LOTS of time in the Atchafalaya Basin you come across lots of different people with many different life stories. This film portrays that perfectly. The accents, scenery, quality of life and the mystery of the Basin is perfectly portrayed in the film. Whoever cast this film was an absolute genius. It was NOT a usual hollywood "take a pis$ on Louisiana" film. This film truly dove deep into one facet of life in the Bayou. I have a camp in the Basin and spend lots of time there amongst the wildlife and wilderness of the very place this film was made. It was filmed in the very places that I choose to spend time. That film could have been about the very people I know and love. There were moments in the film I connected with. FANTASIC JOB LOST BAYOU FILM CREW. You made me cry

Lost Bayou