The Seeding

Usually, I try to look at the upsides to every movie I watch. I really tried to do the same for movie, but it just made it so incredibly hard to so do. I mean, who was the target audience for this movie? Horror fans aren't going to like it, it's not a drama and it certainly isn't a comedy, so whom exactly was this film meant to appease? No one is going to like this movie because there is nothing about it worth liking. Aside from the awesome cinematography and the performance of the lead male actor (a performance wasted on this embarrassment of a film), there is nothing else that is even remotely worth commending.

Even writing this review, I found myself growing increasingly agitated at having wasted almost 2 hours watching a film that ultimately made no sense, and really didn't enrich my life in the end. My goal in watching movies is to find something that inspires me, or at least helps me see things in new and interesting perspectives. All this movie managed to do was frustrate me and annoy me in equal measure, and I would not recommend anyone watch this movie, no matter how bored or devoid of content you seem to be. It is a meritless endeavor that will take more from you than it is willing to give, and I implore each of you considering watching this movie to read a book instead. You will find much more value in the written word than wasting you time with movies that do not respect it.

This movie gets 3 stars for the cinematography and the magnificent acting by the male lead.

As an aside, there is a novel I read a long time ago titled "Woman in the Dunes" by the author Kobo Abe. The gist of that novel is very similar to what happens in this movie. I'd consider reading that book instead of watching this movie. You will have a much better time. I promise.

I haven't see the trailer,so I didn't know what to expect. After the first 18 minutes you know exactly what is going to happen. Unfortunately I saw the whole movie expecting the plot twist. It didn't came. My vote would be higher if this was a part of a trilogy. It could be a second movie with a happy or unexpected end,and a third movie (with the original/indian language ) how everything starts. Acting was good,direction medium. I mean give us a shot from above the desert so we can feel how isolated they are. Most annoying was the script,I almost knew what will happen minute after minute. Even the title gives to much.

I immediately see the influence of the classic Japanese New Wave film "Women In The Dunes" from 1964, by Hiroshi Teshigahara, based on a book by the Existentialist Novelist Kobo Abe. Teshigahara would go on to adapt a number of Abe's books to film. It is available for free viewing at Archive.org. Some of the scenes are a scene for scene copy (or homage).

The cinematography in "The Seeding" is outstanding, with great wide angle shots, and pans of landscapes. The first scene shows the man's car parking on a desert road cul-de-sac. The overhead shot resembles a sperm cell, with the road being the tail. A symbolic reference to the title and things to come. Ken Russell did a similar shot in the 1969 film "Women in Love", in which a (probably drunk) Oliver Reed dies while walking in snow.

With my expectations elevated for a fantastic sublime film, I was disappointed by the unimaginative screenplay and the real let down of a sloppy and apathetic conclusion.

I would recommend the movie for the filmmaking alone, but it is frustrating to think it could have been better with a rewrite.

The acting is well done, though I would have had the women have a stranger demeanor, considering she has not seen the outside world.

The plot leaves too many questions, and many simple questions are not even brought up by the Man. The writer didn't convey a plausible lead character. In the end, the project is essentially scrapped. The difficult issues are not brought into the screenplay which is disappointing.

As a "Horror" film it has some of the gore, but the film doesn't entirely embrace the genre. In the end the film simply misses the target. This due to the fact that the filmmakers were not sure of what they were aiming for in the first place.

Wyndham Stone (Scott Haze) gets lost in remote wilderness. He is rescued by a woman (Kate Lyn Sheil) living at the bottom of a canyon. He gets hurt trying to climb the canyon wall. Then he is harassed and trapped by a group of young people.

This reminds me very much of 70's Ozploitation. Quite frankly, I thought they may be Aussies trying not to do their accent. That has to be the motif that filmmaker Barnaby Clay was shooting for. It succeeds at that. The movie is off-putting in all that right ways. It has a tiny location. It is simplistic, crude, and basic. Don't look for more or complexity.

A man (Scott Haze) ventures into the deep desert in order to view a solar eclipse. When he encounters what appears to be a lost boy, he tries to help him. Soon, the terror begins, changing the man's life forever.

THE SEEDING is an interesting take on the "creepy kid" subgenre. Mr. Haze is believable throughout in his tormented role, as is Kate Lyn Sheil as the mysterious woman at the center of the man's ordeal. The group of kids are frightening in a LORD OF THE FLIES / CHILDREN OF THE CORN sort of way.

This is a slow-building, somewhat disturbing film that saves most of its horror for the final act. You might find yourself muttering "WTF?" a few times as you watch it...