The Harvest

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ronald h You'll have a hard time believing what happens in "The Harvest." Halfway through, you'll be getting skeptical. Ninety minutes in, you'll be rolling your eyes in disbelief. In the final act, you'll probably be slapping yourself. But I guarantee you'll keep watching anyway. Disconcertingly straightforward and unaffected, this aptly titled film inexorably builds tension without any of the usual cheap scares we see in horror movies. Actually, it's barely a horror movie. There's no gore, no ghosts or monsters, just a seemingly well meaning but rather suspicious mom who's played perfectly by Samantha Morton. And she's damn scary. She's Katherine, a doctor, married to Richard (Michael Shannon), a nurse. Richard is taking a leave from his job to keep an eye on their young son Andy (Charlie Tahan), who's confined to a wheelchair. His condition is never explained, but Richard believes that physical activity will get him better, while Katherine insists on keeping him confined to his bedroom. The kid is unhappy and lonely, but he gets a break when Maryann (Natahsa Calis) a neighbor girl living with her grandparents, spies him through his bedroom window. She climbs through the window and plays video games with him. This is clearly good for Andy, who needs a friend, but Katherine disapproves. Tension mounts as Maryann continues to sneak over whenever she can to visit Andy, until Katherine finally goes to see Maryann's grandparents (Peter Fonda and Leslie Lyles) and insists that she stay away. Maryann, of course, defies the order. Portentousness abounds. We feel viscerally that things are not going to go well. The tension is heightened by the visual presentation. The camera plays no tricks, as it typically does in scary films. Instead, it puts all of the action center screen, which is more of a television technique. It's like watching a rather creepy version of "Leave it to Beaver"--at least until the halfway point, when Maryann discovers something in the family's basement that kicks up the weirdness into a whole different realm. The performances, the direction (by veteran filmmaker John McNaughton), the screenplay (by Stephen Lancellotti), and the sure-handed cinematography (by Rachel Morrison) all work together in near-perfect harmony. "The Harvest" does exactly what it intends, in spite of several illogical moments. And forgive me for the minor spoiler, but I can't resist: It has a happy ending. A really good one. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the most intriguing things s out Rotten Tomatoes? Is the differenc between what the professionals rated a movie and the audience. Once again as usual? The Audience score is right at 42 pct. This movie is like a daytime horror on ABC. It's OK. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member how to delete review lol Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Also known as Can’t Come Out To Play. Really tense thriller with some fantastic acting from Samantha Morton, Michael Shannon and the two main children. At times it felt a bit like the tension created in “Misery” between the mother and son Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/19/19 Full Review Audience Member Good premise. The ending could have been developed a bit more and made it a much better movie overall. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/07/18 Full Review Audience Member Powerfully dark and twisted fairy tale. Samantha Morton is terrific here. This is real creepy stuff. ***1/2 Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Harvest

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