‘Rite of the Shaman’ (2022) | Indie Review | Interview w/ Alicia Farmer

Directed By:

Alicia Oberle Farmer

Written By:

Alicia Oberle Farmer, Janice Spencer-Wise

Starring:

Tyrell Oberle, Janice Spencer-Wise, Lauren Holdt

Genre:

Drama

All media used courtesy of Zepstone Media

Also out in theaters, this weekend is Rite of the Shaman, a local film that won this year’s Utah Film Awards. I had the chance to interview the director Alicia Oberle Farmer about her movie, you can watch that by clicking the video below. I can say that I learned so much about how passionate she is, giving to her creative teams, and the story behind this exploration of grief and kindness.

I loved Rite of the Shaman’s message, this is Alicia’s strongest film to date and you can feel that in every shot, and in the story. The main character, a boy who is unable to speak due to trauma is also having to navigate a sick mother, bullies in high school, and just being a kid. The acting by Tyrell Oberle is great and for a first performance to also be limited in acting to not use his voice- is a big achievement. 

The rest of the supporting cast including Janice Spencer-Wise and Lauren Holdt were great. Shoutout to cinematographer Carson McKinnon for his excellent visuals, the mountains, and landscape shots was breathtaking. If there were any issues I would say in some areas the sound mixing felt a little rough, but this is a film where you can feel the passion within every frame, and that makes it a recommendation for me.

About Me
About Me

Patrick Beatty is a member of the Critics Choice Association (BFCA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA), and the Utah Film Critics Association (UFCA) and creator of PatrickBeattyReviews.com. Check out his podcast and make sure to watch Friday’s at 10 AM MST on ABC4 Good Things Utah where he talks about the latest film and television releases of the week!

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