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It’s unusual to experience both a deep sadness and feel uplifted at the same time, but THE RETRIEVAL manages to accomplish this flawlessly. There is no shortage of well-made films to make us happy and inspired, there is even a great selection of stellar films that leave us feeling depressed and miserable, but how many films have you seen that actually, in some strange way, leave you suspended in an emotional juxtaposition between the two extremes?

Written, directed and produced by Chris Eska, this gem of last year’s SXSW film festival (2013) stands as a beacon of powerful storytelling shining brightly through the dark veil of history from which it is born. THE RETRIEVAL takes place in 1864 in the midst of the Unites States Civil War. This is the story of Will, a 13-year old boy left behind by his father to be exploited by Marcus (Keston John). Marcus works as a bounty hunter, employed by an unstable white man named Burrell (Bill Oberst, Jr.) to retrieve runaway slaves and return them to their masters for cash rewards.

Will, played by Ashton Sanders, is quiet and innocent with a good heart, but is surrounded by terrible influences and without a true father figure. When Burrell sends Marcus out to retrieve a man worth more than several of their usual targets, he takes Will with him to serve as bait to lure their mark into a trap. Nate, played by Tishuan Scott, is a big, strong man gone north to work and live as his own man, free to do as he pleases but still haunted by his past, keeping him from returning home to the south. Will is fully aware that his and Marcus’ actions are wrong, but has succumb to the tell-tale symptoms of someone abducted becoming attached to their captor for survival and security. This all slowly changes for Will the moment he first meets Nate.

THE RETRIEVAL is a tale of morality, intimate and personal. The film feels small in comparison to the scale of violence and hatred that make up the backdrop to the story. Eska remains diligently focused on the relationship that builds between Will and Nate, despite the horrible things we all know are occurring around them. Eska understands we are well aware of those more visceral, disturbing details of the Civil Ware era, instead choosing to leave that mostly to imagination. With that said, there are still a few moments when Eska throws in a shot or a brief scene just to keep us properly grounded in the reality of the world in which Will must develop into a young man.

From the very first shot of the film, THE RETRIEVAL is saturated with a melancholy resignation. Visually, the film is constructed of simple, geometrically straight-forward shots. There are an abundance of static shots and long takes. Color is nearly absent from the film, washed out and nearly monochromatic. Much of the film seems hidden within a shroud of fog or smoke, literally or figuratively. This sense of loneliness and resignation carries over into the film’s sound as well, with frequent pauses and long moments of silence built into the dialogue, masterfully integrated by the cast for maximum effect. One secret drives the film’s plot. On that note, much of the story is driven not by what is spoken but by what needs to be said and is kept silent. Distant gunshots and cannon fire occasionally break up the deafening silence that invades Will’s universe, where he’s torn between his fear and curiosity about the war that rages around him.

At its most primal core, the film is about a young man learning right from wrong and that life is not black and white, but muddled forever within an endless swamp of gray area that has no true boundaries. Will is without his true father, is manipulated into seeing Marcus as his surrogate father for the wrong reasons, but is symbolically adopted by Nate, a man seen by most as a criminal. As the two journey together to an uncertain end, Nate grows ever more fond of Will as the son he never had and Will discovers a new view of life through Nate that will stay with him and change the course of his life forever. The relationship between Nate and Will is nourishment to the soul. Hardship, misunderstanding, fear and anger. All of these things make up Nate’s life but he instills none of this in Will, instead seeing him as a young man in need of the teaching of a good man, a side of himself Nate may damn near have lost sight of if not for Will entering his life, even by misguided intentions. Ultimately, and in very different ways, Nate and Will save each other.

THE RETRIEVAL is quite possibly one of the most intelligently conceived, beautifully and truthfully rendered films about life during the United States Civil War and the culture of slavery in America ever made. Overshadowed by similar films with bigger budgets and higher caliber star power, THE RETRIEVAL succeeds on the back of a thoughtful, visionary filmmaker with an independent spirit and a devoted cast of wonderfully talented actors who put an emphasis on connecting personally to their characters.

THE RETRIEVAL opens April 2nd, 2014 in NYC with an expanded theatrical release on April 18th, 2014.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars