Spiral Farm

Released Dec 13, 2019

Drama

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When two outsiders arrive in an isolated community, a 17-year old girl begins to question her role at home and wonders what a future out in the world-at-large could be.

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My basic test for movie goodness is whether or not I can remember the names of the main characters after the film ends. In the case of Spiral Farm, the answer is no. It didn't help that I got about 40 minutes into this film about a family living in a cultish commune before I realized it wasn't a horror flick. I think I resented the remaining 40 minutes for this reason. The acting wasn't terrible but I felt bad for the lead actress--she deserved better than this forgettable story. The movie begins with the protagonist dancing with her arms in the air, indicating she just don't care. Neither does anyone watching. Unfortunately, her apparent passion for dancing factors heavily into the remaining 80-plus minutes. You see, this skinny white teenager who grew up on this cult commune is supposedly good enough at hip hop dancing to become a finalist in a audition in Los Angeles. I mean, spoiler alert...as if matters. The overall flaw with this movie is that despite decent acting and cinemetography (and shot in 4:3 format...), you just don't care. They provide little exploration of the commune and its culture, which clearly allows people to come and go as they please, and has no restrictions on outside entertainment such as YouTube and rap music. The main character suddenly considers leaving the commune, but not until the very end. You aren't even aware this was something she was even contemplating as the movie had focused more on her love of dancing and her crush on the new boy in cult town. The only risk she would face for leaving is that she might get dumped by the guy she likes if she leaves the commune. No excommunication or being hunted down Scientology style. That was the big potential consequence, and apparently you only have your heart broken when you live in the city. Such things don't happen in rural communities. However, with her lack of emotional response to everything that happens, it's hard to care how things turn out for her as she doesn't seem to care either. The matriarch of this house on the commune is an interesting character who was clearly perma-fried from decades of hanging out with the drum circle crowd. Like everything else in Spiral Farm, there's little depth to her character and you stop caring how it plays out. Crazy old lady does get all judgey when the main character shaves her armpits before her dance recital. As a result of this "drama", she makes the newly shaved girl a necklace for safety before she's carried off her chariot...er...Toyota Prius. There seemed to be some attempt to add nuance to the characters as the main actress, who had hardly cracked a smile the entire movie, suddenly tries to act playful with her friend (or sister?) by acting like a dinosaur (or cat?). It was awkward AF and not in that, "what a cute and quirky girl"/Zooey Deschanel sorta way. Her love interest also does this when he takes her to her big (but actually small) dance competition in the city and they hook up in a hotel. Apparently these people who barely know each other and barely talk have inside jokes? Oh, and there's this annoying little wiener kid that lives in the commune house named Ocean. At one point he asks what happens when you die and you get an asinine answer about energy. Later on, the main character's friend (or sister?) who's the kids mother, apparently, tells her not to talk to Ocean about death...ironically without any energy whatsoever in her acting, because apparently energy doesn't kick in for these people until they die. I imagine the writer of this film sat down one day and thought, "What if you were a girl living in a hippie commune who loved hip hop dancing and was toying around with the idea of leaving?? That. That's our movie." Due to the lack of background of Spiral Farm and the completely unremarkable characters, you feel more like you're just watching your standard "kid from the country considers life in the city" movie. What is Spiral Farm? You'll leave this movie not knowing and not even caring to answer that question. In conclusion, Spiral Farm is 80-plus minutes of basically nothing happening, aside from a boring girl experiencing her first hump and dump. Welcome to the city, kid.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Thats an hour and a half of pure crap!!! Dont waste your time. A high school play would be better

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

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Alec Tibaldi

Director

Piper De Palma

Anahita

Sara Anne

Miracle

Landen Beattie

Ocean

Cosimo Fusco

Mau

Jade Fusco

Sahaja

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Spiral Farm: Trailer 1

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Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Not much happens in "Spiral Farm," but what does is often heartbreaking.

Dec 12, 2019

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Luke Parker

Dr. Filmlove's Film Reviews and Ratings

A transient drama concerning our worlds and the worlds we have yet to know.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 7, 2020

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Dan Scully

Cinema76

Writer/director Alec Tibaldi smartly avoids all exposition, instead letting the characters do the work by simply existing.

Jul 20, 2020

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Rosalynn Try-Hane

Liquid Marmalade

Spiral Farm is worth watching for a refreshingly different take on the coming of age genre and a surprising ending.

Jul 8, 2020

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Paul Parcellin

Film Threat

This isn't a takedown of communes or alternative lifestyles, but a character study of a handful of people who've gravitated toward that kind of living arrangement or were born into it.

Rated: 8/10

Dec 31, 2019

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Piper de Palma's performance in Spiral Farm shows that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Dec 23, 2019

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Synopsis

When two outsiders arrive in an isolated community, a 17-year old girl begins to question her role at home and wonders what a future out in the world-at-large could be.

Director: Alec Tibaldi
Screenwriter: Thomai Hatsios, Alec Tibaldi
Distributor: Indican Pictures
Production Co: SFP
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 13, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 15, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.5K

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