The Misguided – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
The Misguided is a tale of two brothers who, despite their relationship complicated by a woman and drugs, may sometimes struggle to keep your attention. Director(s) Shannon Alexander Screenplay By Shannon Alexander Date Released (VOD) 1/26/2018 Genre(s) Drama, Dark Comedy Noted Actors Levi Caleb Galati Wendel Steven J. Mihaljevich Sanja Jasmine Nibali Jason Clay Foster…
The Misguided is a tale of two brothers who, despite their relationship complicated by a woman and drugs, may sometimes struggle to keep your attention.
| Director(s) | Shannon Alexander |
| Screenplay By | Shannon Alexander |
| Date Released (VOD) | 1/26/2018 |
| Genre(s) | Drama, Dark Comedy |
| Noted Actors | |
| Levi | Caleb Galati |
| Wendel | Steven J. Mihaljevich |
| Sanja | Jasmine Nibali |
| Jason | Clay Foster |
Summary
Levi, with school no longer his thing, and in between homes, ends up at his brother Wendel’s house. Now, Wendel is a bit of a bastard in a way, such as borrowing his exes car and considering it a gift, but a brother is a brother. However, problems arise as Levi meets Wendel’s ex Sanja, and grows close to her, even dates her. With that situation, and Wendel’s drug habit, so begins a bit of a downward spiral for him that Levi gets caught up in. Leaving you to wonder, how bad can this situation get and will it just be Wendel who pays the price or everyone who is involved in his life?
Other Noteworthy Facts & Moments
- For those desiring to watch this to see Katherine Langford, she doesn’t play a noteworthy role in the film.
Highlights
Wendel
The way Mihaljevich plays Wendel makes it so you wish this was just his movie. That there was no Levi, and the focus was him dealing drugs with or for Jason, his terrible relationship with the naive Sanja, alongside his drug problem and his sexual proclivities. For just the amount of debauchery and serious no f***s given style of Wendel is so alluring. To the point, he kind of comes off like someone you don’t necessarily love to hate but definitely wouldn’t mind watching screwing a bunch of people over, getting his comeuppance, and then repeating past mistakes. That is the charm Mihaljevich seduces you with.
Criticism
Strong Aussie Accents
Depending on how used to Australian accents you are, there will be times, especially when Wendel or Levi are talking, when you’ll wish you had subtitles.
On The Fence
The Levi and Sanja Romance
In the beginning, when Levi has a pretty clean slate with us, he and Sanja seem like the kind of couple you want to invest in. They don’t present some form of relationship goals, but with them both being on a break from college and finding themselves, it seems like they are on equal footing. Add in it being pushed that Levi seems like one of the few guys who hasn’t taken advantage of her, early on, it makes you wonder why this relationship loses its luster so quickly. Much less, when it becomes clear Levi is probably like most of her exes, you don’t necessarily feel bad for Sanja.
Well, I don’t know how to explain it besides Nibali just doesn’t have that sort of presence which is required of the female lead nor is her character written to have a meaningful part. More often than not, she seems like the kind of girl in mediocre romance movies who are just happy to be in a relationship. You know the kind. The girl who has either dealt with one crappy boyfriend after another or simply were never paid attention to in life. Making it so when someone halfway decent comes around, they fall head over heels despite any and all warnings thrown at them.
Which Nibali could have turned around and used to make Sanja sympathetic, maybe even relatable. However, she isn’t written to anything but a source of conflict. That and to drive whether Levi will be more loyal to his brother or this girl who seemingly is willing to partly bankroll his life.
Overall: Mixed (Divisive)
The main issue of The Misguided, is that it focuses on its less interesting characters, Levi and Sanja, than the main one who presents a draw, Wendel. On top of that, the relationship between Sanja and Levi barely does either character, or their actors, any favors. Sanja is underdeveloped to the point that she inspires indifference, and Levi pales in comparison to Wendel to the point you wished Levi’s character was scrapped in pre-production. Add in that Levi doesn’t make you interested enough in his character to decipher through his accent and it may lead you to become distracted and bored.
Hence the mixed label. For while The Misguided has this awesome character in Wendel, sadly his beacon of intrigue forces everyone into his shadow and it seems they don’t fight to be in the light but just enjoy the shade.
