| Director: | Travis Stevens |
| Cinematography: | Ksusha Genenfeld |
| Music: | Vaaal |
| Runtime: | 91 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
A Wounded Fawn is a 2022 American horror film directed by Travis Stevens and written by Stevens and Nathan Faudree. It stars Sarah Lind, Josh Ruben and Malin Barr.
Kate wins an auction for a statue, The Wrath of the Erinyes, which features the three sisters descending on a male victim. At her home, Bruce knocks on her door and claims he has a client who will pay double what she did for the statue. While the two discuss the piece, Bruce sees an owl-like figure that demands he take Kate's life, and he murders her.
Meredith, a museum curator, is discussing a prior bad relationship with her psychiatrist. She says she has a date with Bruce. Later, Meredith notices the statue at Bruce's home. He tells her it is a replica. Throughout the evening, Bruce and Meredith both experience seeing figures in the house and outdoors. Meredith texts a photo of the statue to a friend, who tells her it's legitimate and that Kate has disappeared. A frightened Meredith requests Bruce to take her home, but he stabs her. Meredith fights back, stabbing him in the eye, and runs away.
Bruce then experiences strange visions of mysterious figures taunting him. One of them is the Owl, whose encounter reveals Bruce has a tumor in his brain, suggesting his hallucinations and compulsion to murder are due to the tumor. Three female figures accompany the Owl, representing Kate, Meredith, and Bruce's murdered girlfriend, Leonora. The Meredith figure asks whether Bruce or his murderous persona, the Owl, selected her. He says both, but she insists Bruce and the Owl are one and the same. The Owl demands a sacrifice must be made, and Bruce commits suicide. As he bleeds out, the Meredith figure watches him.
The film premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival,[1] [2] and was screened at FrightFest London and Fantastic Fest. The film was released on Shudder on December 1, 2022.
The film received positive reviews from critics. [3]
Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film was "really all of a piece in the way it toys with expectations, keeping viewers off-balance. Stevens and company put the audience in the place of both the predator and prey."[4] Katie Rife of RogerEbert.com said that the film was "a film that celebrates art and art history, one that reaches back across the millennia for inspiration and pulls out symbolism that still resonates today", giving it 3/4 stars.[5] Nick Schager of The Daily Beast praised Lind's performance, and added, "Stevens' phantasmagoric horror show embraces the incomprehensible, even as it preserves a tether to the Greco-Roman mythology at its core."[6]
The film was nominated for Best Streaming Premiere Movie at the 2023 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.[7]