Wrath Mercy, world premiere announcement

Early on in “Wrath Mercy,” Everett (Carys Glynne) says to Adam (Matthew Zimmerman) , “I thought you’d left town or were leaving town. It’s so hard to keep up with you.”

Adam, now living in an abandoned barn has left his hometown, come back, threatened to leave again - over and over many times, and Everett, a very scary figure from Adam’s past knows just how much this pains him, striking at the exact moment he is the most vulnerable, right before he must ask Mall - the dealer who sells more than drugs - for a dangerous, final way out.

Adam’s situation in “Wrath Mercy” is very similar to what happened to me. Having left Mississippi the day after I graduated college, vowing never to return, I found myself back again, 13 years later having lost almost everything because of addiction, completely broken.

I first saw “Wrath Mercy” the play, written and directed by my friend Benjamin Craven, performed one night only by Scott Stinson and Pam Scheer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi at The University of Southern Mississippi, where I was an acting student. A fateful night in 1996 (although I keep saying 98, but that’s not right) that changed my life in many ways. More ways than I could certainly foresee back then.

It was in Mississippi - first in college and again, when I returned in 2014, where my dreams of becoming a filmmaker were kindled. It was in Oxford, Mississippi specifically, where I came back to life, not only through my recovery from addiction, but also as an actor and director with Theatre Oxford and Ox-Film/Oxford Film Festival.

As I was adapting “Wrath Mercy” I had a challenging time deciding whether or not to set it in Los Angeles - where Adam would have run to, completely lost and spiritually bankrupt or in Mississippi where he swore he would never return, yet again.

It was a conversation I had with my Producing partner Glenn Payne, that was the deciding factor. Glenn was aware of my concerns with the direction the country and Mississippi in particular were headed toward stripping away the rights of LGBTQIA+ people just like me and Adam.

Glenn helped me realize, that by setting this queer addiction story in the South and filming it there with a paid LGBTQIA+ and allied crew, we would give local filmmakers more support that they could use to continue telling important stories and perhaps even change things for the better. That’s exactly what we did.

In a decision that feels so incredibly right and remarkably full circle, this film that means so much to me, my dream project, is coming home - to the place where the play was born, my dream of adapting it was stoked, where we filmed the movie, and mostly importantly, where it might be needed the most.

“Wrath Mercy” will have its World Premiere in March 2024 at the Oxford Film Festival.

I am so grateful for Executive Director Matt Wymer and for the Oxford Film Festival programmers and screeners who not only believed in this film but also in me. Many of whom have told me how much they loved it, some watching it over and over to find hidden clues/meanings to my little Lynchian tale of addiction and hope.

Look for the schedule announcement on March 1st because tickets will likely go very fast.