Master Gardener
*Seen at the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival.
Paul Schrader is not one to take small swings thematically, and “Master Gardener” is no different, but the way he approaches things is very muted. The film starts out being about a gardener tending to his employer’s land in preparation for big fundraising event, but when the owner’s grandniece comes to stay, and learn horticulture, the gardener’s past comes into play, and “Master Gardener” takes a wild left turn that I’m not sure entirely succeeds.
Narvel Roth (Joel Edgerton) is a clean-cut, fastidious man. At night, he writes in his journal about tending a garden, and as he and his team prepare for the annual fundraiser put on by his boss, the land’s owner, Norma Haverhill (Sigourney Weaver), we come to see the life he leads fuller. His is a life of service, of putting something beautiful into the world, and we see how dedicated he is to the process. One day, Norma has an unusual request- she is taking on her grandniece, Maya (Quintessa Swindell), in hopes of keeping her on the straight and narrow path Maya’s mother was unable to stay on. Norma would like to see if Maya can take over for her, and Narvel. The closer Maya and Narvel get, though, the more his past plays a role in their future.
It really should not be a surprise when we learn that Narvel is a former white supremacist, as his haircut looks very much inspired by Richard Spencer. He still has his tattoos on, and as we come to know more about his past, we feel as though he has kept them on as a way of reminding himself of the hate he overcame. Maya entering his life provides in interesting contrast in racial perceptions- as Narvel sees the potential in her, Norma shows an obvious prejudice based on who her mother was to think that she will turn out the same. The dynamics between the three characters- fueled by great performances by Edgerton, Swindell and Weaver- and what they reveal about how ingrained prejudice can be in people even if they don’t have explicitly racial hatred, is where Schrader’s film finds its center, and holds our attention the most. When a plot of Maya’s current life away from the garden comes into play, we’re left with pretty familiar survival and protector tropes coming into the narrative, as Narvel tries to channel that violent rage he once lived with to protect Maya, and everything else he’s worked for. Schrader’s film loses some footing here because it feels very out-of-character with the slow-burn character study the film was before, and it’s not helped by a finale that- thematically- ties into the strongest elements of the film, but also feels like a dark joke played on the audience that I don’t know if it lands. That said, the best elements of this film give us a big hit of Paul Schrader at his most uncompromising, which is never really a bad thing.
