Moon Garden
The ominous, supernatural tone of “Moon Garden” is ever-present, from the first moments- and first notes of Michael Deragon’s haunting score- to the very end, which has a cover of Pete Ham and Tom Evans’s song “Without You” that leaves you mesmerized. As Ryan Stevens Harris’s film begins, however, there’s an ominous family dynamic playing out that will resonate through the rest of the film, and give it depth. There’s a lot of the film that reminds me of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” but somehow, sadder and darker, because it feels like the future is bleak for Emma, the girl at the center of this film.
Sara (Augie Duke) wakes Emma (Haven Lee Harris) up in the middle of the night in hopes of getting away from her husband, Alex (Brionne Davis). Unfortunately for them, Alex wakes up, and gets them back in the house. Emma cannot sleep, however, and when she finds Sara and Alex fighting, she runs away, but an accident causes her to fall into a coma. We’re then thrust into a dark, fantastic reality that allows Emma to remember moments of positive between her and her parents, but also finds her trapped, trying to find her way home.
The symbolism in “Moon Garden” is not difficult to pick up on- Harris’s film is not exactly subtle- but that’s part of why it pulls us in to its world. The cinematography by Wolfgang Meyer, and the production design by Harris and John Michael Elfers, is as good an example of making less out of more as I’ve seen thus far in 2023, and that’s saying something when you consider how blown away some movies have had me in that department. We’re left unsettled by the film’s images, and engaged fully by Emma’s attempts to find her way home. All along, we get glimpses of happier times, but they are quickly taken away. The journey back is a dark one for Emma, and it is a riveting one to experience.
What holds me the most in “Moon Garden,” however, is the use of music. The score itself mixes horror instrumentations and motifs with more fantastical emotional tones, and it’s a rich experience, but the way the film keeps coming back to “Without You” is where its emotions really hit us hard. I first heard the song when Mariah Carey sang it as a ballad in the ’90s, but how it keeps coming back for Emma- a reminder of her mother- is a beautiful use of an existing song to anchor a film emotionally. Sometimes, those emotions are tender; other times, they are sad. The cumulative impact is profound; “Moon Garden” is not a pleasant film, but it is one anchored by emotional storytelling, and extraordinary visuals. That makes it one of this year’s richest experiences.
