IMDb RATING
5.6/10
4.7K
YOUR RATING
When a college professor confronts two hunters she catches trespassing on her property, she's drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences.When a college professor confronts two hunters she catches trespassing on her property, she's drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences.When a college professor confronts two hunters she catches trespassing on her property, she's drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 4 wins & 4 nominations total
Steven Brian Conard
- Tree Farm Owner
- (as Steven Conard)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Summary
Reviewers say 'God's Country' delves into racism, sexism, and societal injustice through a college professor's clash with local hunters. Thandiwe Newton's performance is lauded for its depth. The film's slow-burn narrative and cinematography are praised, yet some find the pacing and storytelling lacking. Its ending and moral ambiguities elicit mixed reactions, with some appreciating complexity and others finding it unsatisfying. Overall, 'God's Country' is viewed as a thought-provoking, albeit uneven, exploration of social issues and personal conflict.
Featured reviews
I came in hoping for a good story, but left shaking my head at the many lost opportunities to make it one. If you like being preached at for an hour and 43 minutes, this may be the film for you.
Besides the incessant lecturing, the movie had the pacing of a 78 played on a 45 player, the villains were all caricatures of bad people, and the protagonist was a preachy, "I know better than you about everything because" kind of a person.
The most interesting part of this movie was when I dropped a Milk Dud between my legs and spent 10 minutes groping around trying to find it.
See this movie only if you hate yourself.
Besides the incessant lecturing, the movie had the pacing of a 78 played on a 45 player, the villains were all caricatures of bad people, and the protagonist was a preachy, "I know better than you about everything because" kind of a person.
The most interesting part of this movie was when I dropped a Milk Dud between my legs and spent 10 minutes groping around trying to find it.
See this movie only if you hate yourself.
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.
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.
This movie is essentially an art house upsell of something like I Spit On Your Grave. About 30 or 40 minutes into it, when the professor meets one of the hunters in the little church and finds common ground with him (I won't spoil how) I thought the movie might turn into something redemptive for both of these characters. Nothing doing. Instead of such a turn, it devolves into stereotype and cliché, and exactly the end you could predict. You want Trump Country "deplorables" you got them. You want a clueless "woke" interloper, you got that. Yet in the end, all the issues are resolved with a shotgun, hardly any sort of politically correct finish. If the point of this movie is just an ironic play on the idea that God is nowhere to be found in that place, or in any of these people, the point is pretty overtly made. That doesn't mean it's bad or unwatchable. It's neither, but it's not gory enough to be a successful exploitation film, nor creative enough to be a true art film. It's nicely filmed and definitely conveys the damnation of its people and place through its cinematography, and while none of the main antagonist characters, as written, are deep, complex or unique, they are all well portrayed by the actors. A better example of something with a similar theme might be Wind River.
If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free thoughts, please follow my blog to read my full review :)
"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.
"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.
God's Country is disqualified from being considered "bad" by its performances and cinematography alone. The film is largely breathtaking to behold, even when it at times becomes dull from a storytelling standpoint.
And this is where the film falters: its storytelling.
The "plot" technically has an inciting incident, but is really just a meandering series of events that make up a 90-minute petty neighborhood feud between a grieving Karen and a group of spited pseudo-alpha-males.
Given what we come to know about Cassandra's character background, some of the plot's events do hit pretty hard emotionally, especially the film's final 5 minutes and it's EXCELLENT final one-take scene.
But the brilliant conclusion does feel like a bit too little too late, as a great chunk of the story feels largely inconsequential to the film's larger themes that it's going for.
And this is where the film falters: its storytelling.
The "plot" technically has an inciting incident, but is really just a meandering series of events that make up a 90-minute petty neighborhood feud between a grieving Karen and a group of spited pseudo-alpha-males.
Given what we come to know about Cassandra's character background, some of the plot's events do hit pretty hard emotionally, especially the film's final 5 minutes and it's EXCELLENT final one-take scene.
But the brilliant conclusion does feel like a bit too little too late, as a great chunk of the story feels largely inconsequential to the film's larger themes that it's going for.
Did you know
- TriviaBased on James Lee Burke's short story "Winter Light."
- How long is God's Country?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $493,679
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $279,928
- Sep 18, 2022
- Gross worldwide
- $493,679
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content