Ethan Hawke's biopic of Flannery O'Connor is coming to Ragtag. Here's how to see 'Wildcat'

A good biopic is hard to find, but co-writer and director Ethan Hawke and his actor daughter Maya Hawke have invested heart and soul into "Wildcat," an inventive look at the life and literature of influential American writer Flannery O'Connor.

The buzzed-about indie is on its way to Columbia at the end of the month for an engagement at Ragtag Cinema. Here's what to know.

Who stars in 'Wildcat'?

Maya Hawke ("Stranger Things," "Maestro") takes the lead, inhabiting O'Connor.

The cast also includes Laura Linney, Cooper Hoffman, Steve Zahn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Alessandro Nivola, Liam Neeson, Philip Ettinger and Rafael Casal.

Who was Flannery O'Connor?

In her relatively short, 39-year life, the Georgia native penned essential American novels such as "Wise Blood" and "The Violent Bear It Away," as well as story collections like "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge."

A posthumous National Book Award winner, O'Connor's unforgettable characters "experienced deep spiritual conflict and often found grace in violent or unexpected ways," NPR noted.

"It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that she is the most important Catholic author in American letters," Casey Cep added, writing for The New Yorker.

How is 'Wildcat' unique in the realm of biopics?

Director Hawke's film unites a portrait of O'Connor's early writing life with enfleshed recreations of several of her short stories.

"The idea," Variety's Peter Debruge writes, "is to alternate between scenes of O’Connor’s often-tortured personal life and the fictional worlds she imagined — and which, 'Wildcat' argues, weren’t so far removed from her own as readers might think."

What reviewers have said about 'Wildcat'

As of Monday, "Wildcat" held a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but reviewers who praise the film have found something quite distinct inside its frames.

Richard Roeper, of the Chicago Sun-Times, called the film "an inventive and haunting mood piece with a number of memorable scenes."

Variety's Debruge wrote that "Wildcat" marries style and substance in a staggering sort of way; the film is "emotionally exhausting, but audiences come away with a sense of her legacy, as well as an appreciation for the adversity she faced (and, to a lesser degree, a sense of the criticism that has been leveled against her)."

RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire praised Maya Hawke's "rich and multilayered performance," but found the film's fictional forays "distracting and distancing."

How can you see 'Wildcat' in Columbia?

"Wildcat" opens at Ragtag June 28 and will enjoy a limited, one-week run, according to the theater's website. Find more details, and showtimes as they publish, at https://ragtagcinema.org/film/wildcat/.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How to see Flannery O'Connor biopic 'Wildcat' in Columbia