The Wanting Mare

The Wanting Mare is a 2020 science fiction film written and directed by Nicholas Ashe Bateman.

Plot
In a post-apocalyptic realm called Anmaere, an annual drive ships wild horses from a rundown city called Whithren to another, far-off city, Levithen. Many denizens of Whithren hope to board the boat with the horses and travel to Levithen, which they believe holds a more promising future for them.

Cast

 * Jordan Monaghan - Moira
 * Ashleigh Nutt - young Moira
 * Christine Kellogg-Darrin - old Moira
 * Nicholas Ashe Bateman - young Lawrence
 * Josh Clark - old Lawrence
 * Yasamin Keshtkar - Eirah
 * Edmond Cofie - Hadeon
 * Maxine Muster - Elien

Development
The Wanting Mare is Bateman's first feature-length film; he did not attend film school and worked independently on the film's development, part of which was funded through a campaign on the crowdsourcing website Indiegogo. Shane Carruth was involved with executive production for a time, but he removed his name from the project in 2020 after accusations of abuse against him were made public. Bateman shot much of the film in a storage unit in Paterson, New Jersey; other shots were filmed along the coast of the northeastern United States and in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Reception
The film received a positive review from Wired, and mixed reviews from IndieWire, RogerEbert.com, Variety, and Polygon.