“Easter” is one of those films that is filled with interesting ideas and quirky characters, but ultimately doesn’t do much with them. It’s also one of those films that leaves you thinking, “That would’ve been good if …”
The good is in the form of characters who suffer from various mental delusions. Wilma (Jodie Markell) thinks God is talking to her, which leads her to burn down churches. Zaddock (Max Wright) believes he picks up other people’s lives and news bulletins in his head they way you may receive a ghost television channel. (And let’s not even talk about Herman (Sean Runnette), the adult manifestation of a dead baby.) You think these people may be crazy, but then you start to realize they may actually be right. God may be talking to Wilma, and Zaddock may actually be able to see things “normal” people cannot. And that’s as far as that goes.
The story is touching at times, but it never goes the full distance. That’s a shame, too, because these are characters that, as annoying as they can be, deserve to be more fully realized. There is more of a story here, but the movie doesn’t deliver it, and that is inexcusable.
