Review: 'Major Arcana' is a quietly moving drama of a carpenter confronting his past in a Vermont town
Made in Vermont on a budget of pennies and a wealth of soon-to-be-discovered talent, the drama “Major Arcana” is what they once called a “granola movie” — the sort of earnest, introspective regional production that used to dominate the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic competition.
Dink (played by Ujon Tokarski) drives into his former Vermont hometown to collect his inheritance: A beat-up double-wide and the 52 acres of woods on which it sits. These are left to him by his father, who we learn about largely through his horrible housekeeping, his casual attitude about porn, and the amount of beer and liquor Dink pours down the drain.
No matter. Dink knows his dad also left a stash of cash, and wants to get it before someone else does. That someone else is his mom, Jean (Lane Bradbury), who pops by to cajole, wheedle and browbeat her estranged son.
Dink sets about on a solitary project, starting by cutting down trees on his acreage. Eventually, we see that he’s building a cabin, using the carpentry skills acquired in his years on the road. (Tokarski, who has never acted before making this film, is a carpenter by trade.) Dink reveals more about his time away from Vermont, most of it fueled by drugs and alcohol, to his ex, Sierra (Tara Summers) — who’s now with a local guy, but after a few drinks isn’t averse to jumping into bed with Dink for old time’s sake. Oh, and reading Dink’s fortune with a deck of tarot cards.
First-time writer-director Josh Melrod focuses the bulk of his story on Dink’s work on the cabin, and the question of whether reuniting with Sierra is a wise move. Both threads run their course in a quiet, unforced way, allowing us to hang out with Dink and Sierra, learning their personalities by observation rather than dialogue. “Major Arcana” is a movie that shows, instead of tells.
What Melrod also delivers is a trio of fascinating performances. Bradbury pours a lot of acid into portraying Jean, a woman bitterly jealous of Dink’s temporary escape from this small town. Summers, a British actress best known for TV roles in “Boston Legal” and “Mercy Street,” plays the sad, soulful blue-collar Sierra with a lot of buried anger and regrets. And Tokarski is a find, bringing an inner fire to this roughhewn wanderer. Together, they give “Major Arcana” the weathered, comfortable feel of a night by the campfire, sharing stories with people you know, spilling their secrets.
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‘Major Arcana’
★★★
Available, starting Friday, October 9, streaming on the SLFS@Home virtual cinema. Not rated, but probably R for sexuality, language, and alcohol use. Running time: 82 minutes.