New Zealand’s own madman Ant Timpson returns to open the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival with his sophomore feature Bookworm, a story designed to warm your heart, break down your defenses, and make you believe in the power of magic. It’s a much more family friendly feature than I would have expected from Timpson after the rollercoaster ride of his pitch-black comedy Come To Daddy, but it’s a brilliant piece of filmmaking that further establishes his peculiar style and flair for visually stunning sequences.
While interviewing Timpson in support of Come To Daddy he explained to me that the film was, in part, an attempt to make the kind of movie that he and his father would have watched together. And I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to assume that Bookworm is the kind of movie that he would want to watch with his own kids. Although you won’t find a secret torture bunker or psychotic monologues from twisted hitman, Bookworm has a dark streak running through it that peaks out here and there to remind you that even a fantastical adventure like this still operates in a dangerous and unpredictable world.
“Bookworm is an incredibly confident second feature and a visually stunning adventure.”
On an unrelated note, Timpson is officially 2:2 in getting Elijah Wood (Sin City) to wear the most obnoxious hats imaginable. His character in Bookworm, Strawn Wise, is a failed illusionist (don’t call him a magician!) and absentee father who has spent his daughter’s entire life 10,000 kilometers away. After a sudden accident leaves his daughter Mildred (Nell Fisher, Evil Dead Rise) without anyone to care for her, Strawn packs his bags for New Zealand to finally step up and be a dad (sporting the most hipster illusionist hat possible on his arrival). Mildred, a fiercely independent bookworm quickly convinces Strawn to take her on a camping trip/hunting expedition. Their goal? To capture photographic proof of the mythical Canterbury Panther and claim a $50,000 prize. Needless to say, Strawn really isn’t cut out for camping, and being dad isn’t really his cup of tea either.
As a genre fan and a certified horror movie addict, I spent a lot of time waiting for Bookworm to take a hard left turn that never came. Beyond his directorial work, Timpson has produced some of the strangest and downright depraved movies of the last decade including The Greaser Strangler, Turbo Kid, and The ABCs of Death. In retrospect, it was wrong of me to assume a surprise genre mashup was in the cards, but the real surprise here is in the turn toward a new genre altogether: Adventure. And Bookworm is a classic Adventure tale, told in the gorgeous expanse of New Zealand’s lush landscapes.
Bookworm is an incredibly confident second feature and a visually stunning experience, if you’re open to it. It’s much more sincere and genuine than anything I would have expected. Although, never underestimate a fashionably late Michael Smiley or the power of a well-placed nightmare sequence. Genre nerds (myself included) might need a little recalibrating to dial in to the specific wavelength of this (I’ll admit it) touching father-daughter story, but once you meet the movie on its own terms, you won’t be disappointed.
Ant Timpson’s Bookworm celebrated its World Premiere at the 2024 Fantasia Film Festival, as the festival’s opening night film. Click HERE to follow our continued coverage of the festival and be sure to keep an eye out for this adventurous panther hunt in cinemas later this year!
