Movie Review - Aquarians

Movie titles can be references to a character, a place, a theme or a quote in the dialogue. They can be random or they can provide some insight into what the audience is about to see. Writer-director Michael M. McGuire's title here could be doing one or all of those things. The meaning of which might be a little opaque. An Aquarian could be any person born under the astrological sign of the Zodiac known as Aquarius. These are people born in the middle of winter from late January into mid-February. McGuire's title could be referring to those people who are regarded with a certain type of personality or maybe he's referring to the time period itself. The Wisconsin native has set his film in his home state and photographed it around that Aquarius time in the winter.

McGuire's feature debut follows a young seminarian who returns to his home town as a deacon in his family's church. He hasn't been ordained yet, but he's working under the tutelage of the local priest to become so and learn the ropes. That seminarian is Daniel Sullivan aka Danny, played by three-time Emmy winner, Chandler Massey (Days of Our Lives). Early though, it's apparent to his priest that Danny possibly doesn't want to be there, meaning either his home town or in the church, or possibly both. As the film goes along, there does seem to be some reluctant and even highly resistant distancing that Danny takes from the church. In that regard, the title could refer to the "Age of Aquarius," which to some means an age of enlightenment or rejection of and distancing from religious influence.

Otherwise, McGuire's title could be a reference to the literal definition of the word, which comes from a Latin term meaning water-bearer. Danny's home town is called Silver River. A critical scene takes place on top of a frozen lake. Throughout the film, there are other allusions to water. The opening scene is a dream where Danny imagines himself submerged and even approached by a mermaid. McGuire filmed this not only in his home state but also in the northern part near Lake Michigan. He had Danny come there from Milwaukee, a city whose name is derived from a Native American phrase meaning "gathering place by the water." So, all these nods to the water and water-bearing could simply be coincidence or it could have been the impetus for his title.

Shane Coffey (Sugar Mountain and Pretty Little Liars) co-stars as Danny's older brother, Jacob Sullivan aka Jake. He's scruffy looking with a beard. He enjoys ice fishing. He has a highly cynical view of the Catholic Church. He'd rather get drunk and have sex with various women. He has an open and carefree kind of lifestyle, but he seems like an isolated hobo. He used to be a math genius or a scholar who had the potential of going to any college and having a great life. Yet, he abandoned all that. Now he lives in what could be considered a shack out in the middle of nowhere with a penchant for marijuana distribution.

Both brothers, Danny and Jake are possibly in stations of life that they don't want to be or that aren't the best for them. The question would be why and the reason seems to reveal itself early in the film, but it isn't hammered home until the end. McGuire's film has currents of guilt and self-blame as an undercurrent. McGuire's film is also about what people, particularly what young people do to avoid dealing with tough emotions like guilt and self-blame. It's also about how tragedy can change or affect people in serious ways, which obviously isn't a new theme, but the setting and the performances here are superb enough to overcome those oft traveled ideas.

What is refreshing is McGuire's sense of humor. Danny as a young deacon visits a hospice where sick and elderly people need companionship and counsel. That might set a very dour and depressing tone. Visually, McGuire matches that feeling with a lot of cold colors in his frames, but fortunately McGuire also peppers every scene with some kind of comedic element. In fact, almost every scene ends with a bit of a joke, usually not verbal but rather sight gags and even pratfalls. Coffey's character does get quips or mostly raunchy retorts, but Massey instead gets the physical humor. Massey's body does meet the ground in fast and hard ways numerous times over the course of this film, but it's never over-the-top. Massey's pratfalls are more subtly handled.

What's also subtle, if almost to be under baked are the religious aspects. Seeing Danny in the full, priest regalia, the vestments or cassock, the film feels like it's setting up what's going to be a crisis of faith. The initial interaction between Danny and Jake feels like it's setting up what's also going to be a rivalry between a believer and an atheist. Jake never states his true beliefs, but he does strongly state that the Catholic church and those within are hypocrites and pedophiles. If there is a crisis of faith or a religions rivalry established, McGuire all but drops it.

In other films involving a protagonist who is either a priest or an aspiring one, his devotion or devoutness is usually put to the test. Sometimes, those tests come from inside the person, such as Linus Roache in Priest (1995) or Margaret Qualley in Novitiate (2017). Sometimes, those tests come from outside the person, such as Doubt (2008) or Calvary (2014). This film seemed like it was going to have tests originating from both inside and outside. In a way, it does flirt with those tests, but again all of that falls away in order to drill down on the brotherhood between Danny and Jake.

Two films this year put religious devotion or devoutness in the cross-hairs. The first was First Reformed, which featured Ethan Hawke. The second was Come Sunday, on Netflix. Those movies were more issue-oriented. Like with Come Sunday, there is a scene here where Danny faces having to counsel a gay parishioner. Unlike Come Sunday though, Danny pulls away from having to deal with it, which perhaps tells you where this character is going to land. Later, Danny encounters a lesbian parishioner with whom he denies communion. I don't think McGuire meant for Danny to read as homophobic. His intention is more to underline the homophobia in the church, but there's never a reckoning with Danny that resolves those earlier encounters.

His goal at the beginning seems to be that he wants to become a priest. His relationship with his brother or lack thereof would possibly be a hindrance or roadblock to that. The movie's premise would almost be that the two, particularly for Danny, are mutually exclusive. The natural solution would presumably be that it's not. The solution would seem to be that Danny could be a priest and also be close to his wayward and possibly atheist brother Jake. By the end, that solution though doesn't appear to be the case.

The ending suggests that the two really are mutually exclusive. Danny has to either choose his brother or the church. It's not to say that the mutually exclusive conclusion isn't what the ending shouldn't have been, but more to sell that conclusion was simply needed and I'm not sure McGuire supplies enough for that ending as it stands. Thankfully, the performances of Massey and Coffey are so strong here that that conclusion can be brushed off. Despite the cold setting, the warmth between the two actors is such to keep the audiences quite cozy but not in an overly sentimental way.

Not Rated but contains sexual situations, brief nudity and language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 43 mins.

Available on Amazon Prime.
Coming soon to other digital platforms.