Bookworm (2024): Offbeat Coming-of-Age Struggles with Tone

A reunion of Come to Daddy director Ant Timpson, writer Toby Harvard and stars Elijah Wood and Michael Smiley, with the addition of Nell Fisher after her star making turn in Evil Dead Rise, would pique the interest of most horror fans, but despite showing at Frightfest earlier this year, Bookworm couldn’t be further from the dark tone of those films.

It follows an awkward and unplanned father-daughter reunion for Strawn (Wood), a failed television magician/illusionist, and Mildred (Fisher) the titular and self-defined ‘card-carrying bookworm,’ after Mildred’s mother goes into a coma. Struggling as the child of a single parent family in New Zealand, Mildred is determined to get the big monetary reward for anyone who finds evidence of the Canterbury Panther that is in the area. Exploiting Strawn’s intention to connect with his daughter for the first time, Mildred drags him on a hunt in the New Zealand wilderness.

This setting is the star of the film, looking simultaneously gorgeous and threatening. The looming mountains, vast fields, and moody woods really helps sell the adventure; putting a child at the centre of the expedition already makes it threatening, but the location makes this threat more tactile. Even glimpses of the clearly CGI panther don’t detract from the predominantly realist tone, aided by the actors really selling the fear of encountering a big cat in the wild.

The cast in general do a lot to liven up the film, particularly Wood and Fisher. They have brilliant chemistry that helps us invest in the emotional journey their character’s go through. The relationship is always fractious, Strawn having stayed in America rather than help raise his daughter, and the film refreshingly makes Strawn work hard to earn Mildred’s trust. Her constant criticism of his attempts at fatherhood and cliché magic tricks is incredibly funny in Fisher’s hands, with Wood bringing a great downtrodden energy that makes his character sympathetic rather than frustrating.

Their heart-warming moments also stand out as the film’s strongest scenes, where its offbeat tone and earnestness compliment each other rather than clashing. Mildred may be a bookworm, but the film itself is similarly overly wordy leading to stilted scenes joined up together rather than a fluid story. The humour is similarly hit-and-miss, built from contrived situations or events tangential to the story, such as Strawn’s monologuing explaining his feud with David Blaine. It’s too silly to feel like genuine backstory but treated too seriously to be dismissed as a throwaway joke.

This scene epitomises how the film as a whole hits a strange middle ground of having a bit too much edge for a family film but playing things too broad to be an engaging tale for adults. Michael Smiley and Vanessa Stacey’s character are a prime example of this, bringing a completely different sort of energy than we’ve seen previously. In jarring contrast to the light-hearted and comic events up to this point, their characters bring a quiet psychological menace that is quite the whiplash. In feeling so out-of-place, it highlights how the narrative through-line of Mildred and Strawn’s relationship gains a lot of its emotional depth from Fisher and Wood making it work, with the film not focused enough to let it fully resonate.

Despite these flaws, there is plenty of charming energy from the performers and cinematography to keep the film engaging. It clearly owes a debt to eighties family adventure films like The Goonies that is willing to put their child protagonists in genuine peril, but rather than lazily throwback, Bookworm has its own distinct voice. And I am full aware that others have been and will be charmed by it, even if it didn’t work totally for me. Perhaps destined to be a cult hit since it is going straight to digital rather then getting even the briefest of theatrical runs, Bookworm is a perfectly pleasant watch for the current season, for when its dark outside and you’re craving something heartwarming and comforting.

Mike’s Archive – Bookworm