A woman finds herself on a wild adventure in this absurdist comedy seen as The NeverEnding Story on LSD or PCP. 

Margaret Corn is an artist who has a true passion and dreams of being a space captain in a far away galaxy. As Captain Corn, Margaret patrols outer space only to find herself in conflict with a rival who wants to ensure she never reaches the center of the universe. Meanwhile, while she is in a conversation with her grandmother, a local mechanic named Marge buys some trinkets and buys a “Determined with Destiny” book for only a cent.

Reading the book whisks Marge on an adventure where we see Margaret in a car breaking down in the middle of the road, where she is confronted by a mysterious figure in a yellow slicker and baby mask as well as a demented Santa Claus. However, she makes her escape and meets a mysterious man who offers her a place to stay for the night, where chaos is set to ensue. As Marge continues to read, she soon learns that life can imitate art, but it is up to her to decide. 

In August of 2022, Joe Badon unleashed a short film called Blood of the Dinosaurs, a WTF short set around a demented children’s show. The short serves as a prologue for this film, which is a total WTF that feels as if The NeverEnding Story was on a drug-fueled rage. It has it all, especially if you are a fan of those old school public access station local programs.

The film plays out as a 4-episode mini-series revolving around a mechanic named Marge, played by Kali Russell , reading a “choose your adventure” like book, which brings to the world she read and we visualize the episodes. However, what Badon does both in between and even during the film is ingenious. In between the “episodic” mini-series, we get a few strange ads for a skateboard attorney, a few public access shows, as well as the very making of the scenes to complement the scenes themselves. In other words, we do see Badon appear in the film to discuss the scenes with his actors.

The episodes themselves are quite insane as well with Badon using different filters and visual styles that pay homage to everything from classic black and white Hollywood to even 1980’s VHS tapes. There are shades of horror, comedy, and science fiction as we see Russell do an amazing job as does cast members such as Vincent Stalba and Jeff Pearson pulling off multiple roles throughout the insanity of the film. The finale becomes very satisfying in terms of Marge the same way Bastian gets his peace of mind in the end of The NeverEnding Story…or does it?

The Wheel of Heaven is a fun, wild, absurdist comedy that has it all. Kali Russell is a name to look out for as she is great in the lead role. If you love sci-fi, comedy, public access shows that more or less make no sense, then this is your film.

WFG RATING: A

A Cosmic Family Films production. Director: Joe Badon. Producers: Joe Badon, Joseph Estrade, Katie Weiss Porter, and Daniel Waghorne. Writers: Joe Badon and Jason Kruppa. Cinematography: Daniel Waghorne. Editing: Joseph Estrade.

Cast: Kali Russell, Jeff Pearson, Vincent Stalba, Miles Hendler, Jason Edward Johnson, Andre LaSalle, Tiffany Christy, Nadia Eiler, Cami Roebuck, Jacob JJ Clark, Joe Badon.