The Wheel

Directed by Steve Pink, The Wheel follows a young married couple (Taylor Gray’s Walker and Amber Midthunder’s Albee) as they arrive at a remote Airbnb hoping to repair their crumbling relationship – with the movie detailing the impact their squabbles eventually have on their soon-to-be-wed hosts (Nelson Lee’s Ben and Bethany Anne Lind’s Carly). It’s clear immediately that the biggest impediment to The Wheel‘s success is Midthunder’s grating, abrasive turn as the often astonishingly unlikable Albee, as the character, for the most part, comes off as a hateful sociopath with few, if any, redeeming values and it is, as such, difficult to work up a rooting interest in the success of Walker and Albee’s relationship. (Gray, on the other hand, turns in a subtle, engrossing performance that remains a highlight.) There’s little doubt, then, that the picture’s tolerable atmosphere is due mostly to its ongoing emphasis on Ben and Carly’s comparatively enthralling exploits, while the spellbinding climax, involving an unbroken trip around a ferris wheel, retroactively improves everything that came before and goes a long way towards humanizing Midthunder’s polarizing figure – which finally (and firmly) cements The Wheel‘s place as a frustratingly erratic yet ultimately satisfying relationship drama.

*** out of ****