God's Country

The entire 102 runtime needed to be chopped to a short film to keep this story engaging. At least 80% of this film was unnecessary, convoluted nonsense and filler that should've ended up on the cutting room floor. Don't even get me started on the ridiculously slow pacing and long dragged out and unnecessary scenes.

Too many points tried to be made, but none really succeeded - and in the hands of any decent filmmaker, it wouldn't have felt like such a chore to even attempt to make said points. Many scenes and dialogue were just nonsense and unrealistic, and just came and left out of nowhere. It was just sloppy sloth writing and directing that felt like none of it was edited, and random bits from other screenplays was mixed in the blender. And even then, it was all too predictable and cliched.

The worst part is, you'll invest all this time trying to stay engaged, but will be very let down with the lamest, simplistic and most cliched predictable ending. You'll cringe when asking yourself "that's it?". This type of story has been done many times before, and much better than this mess of style and filler over any real substance. The only redeeming qualities this film had was Newton's performance and great cinematography with breathtaking scenery. Just watch the trailer and the last 2 mins of the movie - there's your entire story.

God's Country is a slow burn but quite an impressive debut feature from Julian Higgins, beautifully enhanced by cinematographer Andrew Wheeler. Thandiwe Newton is good in the lead role of college professor, Sandra, who faces not only the power of the Patriarchy in the workplace but the existential threat of violence living alone and isolated on her Montana property. When she pushes back against two brothers who feel they have the proprietary right to hunt on her property, she is set on a collision course with the local men. An ex-New Orleans police officer, she's no pushover but you will have to decide whether or not her final resort to violence is a justifiably measured response.

College professor Sandra (Thandiwe Newton) lives alone in the middle of nowhere Montana after losing her mother. Two local hunters keep trespassing on her property. The confrontations slowly build. She's struggling with an unevolved superior at work. The acting sheriff is limited help. The actual sheriff is on leave after shooting a local.

This movie is quiet. In a way, it's too quiet. Newton is doing good quiet with simmering rage. The tree farm confrontation is good tension. So is the invitation into the trailer home. There are moments and scenes with great tension. Mostly, the movie is way too quiet and the tension slips. It needs to build the tension, but Sandra doesn't change. It's a little flat.

Saw this back at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Director Julian Higgins creates a movie about a grieving college professor confronts two hunters she catches trespassing on her property, she's drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences. Higgins starts off with a really strong beginning and introduction to the film but after 35 minutes into the film, the movie falls apart as the story becomes really basic, generic, and dull. There are many good aspects about this film. The cinematography, the score, atmosphere, production design, and sounding was really good. It helped to add flavor to the movie but the story and bland one sided characters really made the movie suffer. The pacing of the movie becomes really uneven as it dragged the movie from exciting to boring. Actress Thandiwe Newton gives a great performance throughout the movie as she does her best to keep this movie flowing well. But the other performances are just okay and some of them are quite bad.

Some of the dialogue is very clunky. The editing choices are bland. Lastly, the ending although is quite satisfying, because of the dull storyline, the ending doesn't really feel worth it by the end of the day. Higgins has talent but this movie was just meh and forgettable.

Rating: C+

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"God's Country features a remarkable lead performance from Thandiwe Newton, but the unfocused, predictable screenplay makes this film too dull to remember. Technically, it's one of the strongest movies of the festival. Gorgeous cinematography, sweet score, gripping atmosphere -- it holds the essential technical ingredients for a great film.

However, by attempting to tackle many different subject matters, Julian Higgins isn't able to properly concentrate and exceptionally develop a single one. In addition to this, the protagonist carries relatable motivations, but her consequent actions feel contradictory. The racism and sexism that she has to deal with are real, but her way of confronting these situations is far from exemplary.

Finally, the impactful ending beautifully works in theory, but since everything plot-wise is so unsurprising and slow-paced, the viewers will probably feel too tired to care by the end."

Rating: C.