The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd

Directed by Tim Blake Nelson, The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd follows a prison teacher (Amanda Seyfried’s Karen) as she begins to form a bond with a vicious criminal (Scoot McNairy) in her class. Filmmaker Nelson, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a mostly solid drama that benefits substantially from its compelling subject matter and raft of superb performances, as, in terms of the latter, both Seyfried and McNairy offer up terrific work that certainly elevates the proceedings on a recurring basis. And while Nelson’s decision to employ a time-shifting structure is perhaps a little unnecessary, particularly given the story’s decidedly conventional bent, The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd builds towards a fairly electrifying finale, albeit one that perhaps doesn’t quite accomplish what Nelson has intended (ie this individual isn’t nearly as sympathetic as Nelson wants him or her to be), that ensures the whole thing ends on a positive note – with the end result a compelling piece of work that could use a few judicious edits (eg the unpleasant squirrel scene is entirely superfluous).

*** out of ****