The way director Yana Alliata introduces us to Ryan (Ryan Wuestewald) in the opening moments of Reeling makes it hard to tell what the line running through his hair is. I wondered if it was shaved as part of his haircut or just the pattern in which his hair grew, but it is slowly revealed to be a scar that wraps around the right side of his skull.

Ryan is arriving at his family’s Hawaiian homestead in a beat-up minivan, and it’s the golden sun that reveals Ryan’s injury. These kind of slow reveals are peppered through Reeling, an emotional character study about memory, family, and guilt that sometimes feels too slight.

Alliata uses the specificity of Hawaii and the beauty of the islands to great effect – we can hear the roiling ocean just out of frame, as if the emotions that are bubbling up within Ryan could burst forth at any moment. When they do, it’s as heart-wrenching as you’d expect and how it affects the three characters the film gives proper time to is especially interesting, but it’s almost as if Reeling is afraid to linger on the pain, gliding over it instead of letting us sit with it.

Reeling Is All Tension, Very Little Relief

We eventually find out that Ryan is returning to Hawaii to celebrate his sister Meg’s (Nikki DeParis) birthday. Meg and Ryan’s mom is unable to make it, stuck in California with their aunt, so it’s just the siblings, some of Meg’s friends, and members of their extended family. The men, including Meg’s boyfriend John (Hans Christopher), are all washboard abs and tanned bodies, tossing a ball around when Ryan arrives and digging an imu pit to roast the pig in.

Ryan was maybe once comfortable in this environment, but his injury, which clearly affected his physical and cognitive abilities, has made him feel like a stranger in a once-familiar place. Wuestewald is wonderful in the role, his hesitancy to reach out apparent, his longing for connection crystal clear. He’s more comfortable around the women at the party, who treat him with a delicacy that the men don’t.

Alliata, along with cinematographer Rafael Leyva and sound designer Tony Solis, make the idyllic setting as claustrophobic as can be. тιԍнт close-ups of Ryan’s face force us to look directly at the confusion he’s experiencing. The music lulls you into a steady rhythm and the environment is sH๏τ in such a way that it feels as if something is lurking behind the foliage.

It’s an effective way to convey Ryan’s state of mind, which only becomes more frazzled throughout the one evening over which Reeling takes place. But the people Ryan wants to talk to – Meg and John – are quick to ignore him or placate him before rushing away. It’s clear Meg is avoiding dealing with the situation so she can enjoy her birthday and not feel guilty about her brother’s condition. Still, there’s something different about the way John treats him.

The others around Ryan, Meg, and John are less clear. We meet many of them as they reintroduce themselves to Ryan, but we get very little information about their lives or even their relations to Ryan, Meg, or the family. It makes these characters feel like observers rather than active participants, which undermines some of the more heightened emotions of Reeling.

This all culminates in Ryan remembering the tragic moment where his life was changed forever, which shifts the dynamics in such a way that the party is immediately over. Sadly, the movie, too, is over very quickly after this revelation, leaving little room for an exploration of how it would impact Ryan and his relationship with his sister and their friends and family.

Regardless, what is clear is that the people both in front of and behind Reeling‘s camera are very talented. This is Alliata’s first feature-length film, and it’s an ᴀssured debut, using the stunning location to create a mood of anxiety even amid the beauty. Similarly, the main cast, especially the trio of DeParis, Christopher, and Wuestewald all feel like distinct characters.

The quickness of the film – which only runs for just over 75 minutes – makes it feel like a snapsH๏τ. I would’ve liked to stay in the moment a bit longer. There’s a naturalistic feel to everything that, if given room to grow, could’ve made Reeling‘s already moving story even more deeply effective.

Reeling premiered at the 2025 SXSW film festival.