Brooklyn Filmmaker Tackles Faith And Addiction in New Thriller

Brooklyn filmmaker Wanly Florexile has long positioned himself as a storyteller of emotional honesty. From the raw family tensions of Love Is Blind to the mental health shadow-play in Behavior, Florexile’s films explore the complexities of urban life, identity and morality.

Now, with his latest film Joseph, the Haitian-American filmmaker steps into even more personal terrain—faith, addiction and the dual pressures of community expectation and private struggle.

Joseph is a thriller that centers on a Christian man secretly battling a gambling addiction. After witnessing a robbery, Joseph’s already fragile balance begins to unravel, pushing him toward a breaking point. Played by Florexile himself, the title character is at once ordinary and spiritually tormented—a man raised in a Haitian household steeped in religion, yet caught in a cycle of secrecy.

“This is my most personal and ambitious work yet,” Florexile said in a recent interview. “I wanted to tell a story that felt real to the quiet battles so many people—especially in my community—go through. Not everyone talks about addiction, but it’s there, and it’s painful.”

Though Florexile has worked across multiple genres—from psycho-thriller to urban drama to even light touches of fantasy—Joseph marks his first foray into faith-based storytelling. But it still reflects the sensibilities that define his work: authenticity, emotional complexity and a keen eye for the tension between inner lives and public identities.

“I try something different with each project,” he said. “But I always keep it grounded in what I see around me—my neighborhood, my people, our experiences.”

Born in Haiti and raised in Flatbush, Florexile credits Brooklyn’s cultural density with sharpening his artistic vision. “You walk a few blocks and you hear five different languages. You see five different cultures. That energy—that exposure—it inspires me constantly. It reminds me there are so many stories to tell.”

Though he resists being reduced to identity labels—“I’m not just a Haitian filmmaker or a Brooklyn filmmaker,” he insists—Florexile acknowledges that his roots inevitably shape the texture of his work. “It’s where I’m from. I wear that with pride. But I don’t let it limit what kinds of stories I can tell.”

In Joseph, Florexile cast largely unknown actors in roles, many of whom he personally coached. “It’s hard to get attention without a big name,” he said. “The minute people see a famous face in your trailer, they’re interested—even if that actor’s only in it for a few seconds. But I wanted to give people a shot. Talent is everywhere.”

Florexile’s filmmaking journey began with a broadcast journalism degree from Kingsborough Community College, but it wasn’t until his wife, a professional photographer, introduced him to camera work that he saw film as a real path. A friend’s music video shoot sparked further interest. “That moment flipped a switch,” he said. “I realized I could do this too—and I haven’t looked back since.”

Outside of film, Florexile also runs Flowex Academy, a school he founded in 2017 in Latibonit, Haiti—the town where he made the film The Consequence. “I went back and people were amazed I returned to this small place to make a movie,” he recalled. “They ended up naming the school after me and since then, I’ve paid the teachers and kept it running on my own. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of.”

With a sequel to the film Life in the works, Florexile remains focused on stories that resonate.

“Each project gets stronger,” he said. “I see the growth—in the production, in the acting, in the storytelling. And when people connect with it? That’s the greatest feeling. That’s what keeps me going.”