Ethan Hawke’s “Wildcat” has an intriguing fixation with artistic process.
The actor-turned-director casts his own daughter, Maya Hawke, as Southern Gothic author Flannery O’Connor, in another film about a real artist’s life — “Blaze” was about a country musician; “Seymour: An Introduction” followed a classical pianist — with an unconventional and alluring narrative structure.
However, despite Maya Hawke throwing herself headfirst into the part, her father’s attempts to capture O’Connor’s mind, body, and soul end up feeling incomplete.The opening scene takes the form of an old, black and white movie trailer in a 4:3 aspect ratio — appropriate for “Wildcat’s” 1950s setting — for a salacious thriller about a rebellious young woman (played by Maya Hawke) who scandalizes her conservative Catholic mother (Laura Linney).
It exists entirely apart from the movie’s narrative, but it seems to inform Hawke’s directorial mission statement, as he aims to…
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