A Prayer for the Dying, a technically accomplished yet unsatisfying drama from first-time director Dara Van Dusen, tells a somber tale of an unfolding epidemic in 1870s Wisconsin. The film, adapted from the novel by Stewart O’Nan, boasts striking visual gestures and set pieces, but they often feel disconnected from any emotional truth. As reported by The Guardian, the film screened at the Berlin film festival.
The setting is a frontier town in Wisconsin in 1870, where Jacob, played by Johnny Flynn, serves as both sheriff and pastor. He has seen traumatizing service in the civil war and is married to Marta, played by Kristine Kujath Thorp, with whom he has a young child. The town's careworn doctor, played by John C Reilly, is a notable presence in the film, delivering his role with sympathy and weight.
When the dead body of an itinerant drifter is discovered on the town's outskirts, it sparks a sense of unease, particularly as the doctor realizes that the man died of diphtheria. A catastrophic epidemic is imminent, and the men are divided as to how to respond. They must decide whether to declare a lockdown-quarantine or adopt a secretive policy of non-acknowledgment, which might allow them to keep the illness and public order under control.
However, the disease soon renders this dilemma irrelevant, and Jacob is unable to enforce his strictures. The film features scenes of horror, complicated by news of a spreading wildfire, which creates an eerie red glow in the atmosphere. This glow could be a PTSD projection, a dramatization of Jacob's already deeply unhappy mind. Flynn, though always a watchable screen performer, was perhaps not directed as closely as he might have been to create the necessary wrenching anguish.
Reilly's performance is a highlight of the film, delivering his role with sympathy and weight. In contrast, Flynn's character feels somewhat underdeveloped, despite his watchable screen presence. The film is a highly controlled artefact, but it ultimately delivers less than it promises. With its technically sound yet emotionally unsatisfying tale, A Prayer for the Dying feels like a short film indulgently taken to feature length.
