Come Morning

Released in 2012, "Come Morning" is a backwoods drama/mystery about a grandfather and grandson (Michael Ray Davis & Thor Wahlestedt) and their misadventures when taking a hunting trip in backwoods Arkansas. The screenplay focuses on the downside of masculinity, rural property disputes and death.

The story evidently takes place in 1973, which I didn't know until after watching the movie because country folk today generally wear the same kinds of clothes as they did back then and drive similar old trucks, etc. In other words, there's no observable reason it couldn't take place in modern times. Another minor issue is the way the story switches to flashbacks without indicating it to the viewer. Of course I was able to gather that it was a flashback, but why not use an appropriate device to indicate this to the audience?

Regardless, the movie has a great haunting ambiance with a quality score, excellent woodsy photography and good actors, all reminiscent of the haunting rural atmospherics of films like 2010's "Winter's Bone," 2008's "Frozen River" and 2006' "That Beautiful Somewhere." It's the least of these, however, no doubt because of the $46,000 budget, which resulted in too many holes in an already ambiguous story. Moreover, while the plot's fine, the script is too mundane and fails to create a compelling experience.

My wife and I watched the movie separately yesterday and neither of us could figure it out. The story provokes questions, but the ending fails to deliver the answers. We're not the types who need to be "spoon fed" answers. In fact, we enjoy figuring movies out and usually can; see my review of 2001's "Wendigo" for evidence. Unfortunately, too much of "Come Morning" remains a mystery; even after watching (most of) the director's commentary to find answers. We found some answers, like the identification of the character of Morrigan (Elise Rovinsky), whom we thought was simply the kid's mother, but that's not the case. ***MILD SPOILER*** The story ends with someone's ring found in someone else's possession and neither the movie nor the commentary reveal the significance of this. So this character has a certain person's ring on him, so what? Before you answer, "The ring is supposed to incriminate so and so," I get that, but incriminate him for what? Hunting in a prohibited area? Whoopee. Don't tell me he'll be incriminated for murder because (1.) it doesn't apply to the dead person in question and (2.) just because someone has another person's ring in his/her hand doesn't mean much. No matter how you slice it it's a weak ending.***END SPOILER***

The director and the other commentator reveal that they weren't able to include a lot of scenes from the original script, either because they didn't have the money/time to shoot them or they did and the footage was unusable for one reason or another. As such, there are just too many holes in the story and it leaves you unsatisfied. The director/writer makes the viewer work hard, but then fails to provide answers. Yet the story's not very compelling anyway; so even if they were able to include more revelatory material it still wouldn't help the mundane nature of the proceedings. That said, "Come Morning" is worth catching just for the mysterious backwoods cinematography and score, not to mention the quality actors; that is, if you appreciate the aforementioned similar films.

I hope the director makes more films because he's got talent, but he's going to need bigger budgets to do so effectively, plus improve his script-writing skills.

The film runs 80 minutes and was shot in Cleveland County, Arkansas.

GRADE: C-

Underrated film, for sure.

The emotion that unravels during this flick is seriously dramatic. I think if you've ever spent any time either happening upon, or living in, a place like this, which is not exclusive to where this film takes place, but a backwoods way of life, this will hit you hard. The acting performances, though subtle, are very strong. I am surprised this hasn't had more accolades to be honest. Well done, definitely well directed and sensitive at the same time. Gotta love the sinister ways of small towns and freak tragedy combined into a well deserved high rating. I'm glad I watched it.

Come Morning has a dark beauty about it. I didn't really think about it until after it was over and my wife called it a coming of age story, but that description is very appropriate. It is a dark coming of age story and by the time it's over you will feel for the adult that the little boy is to become. This is not a feel good movie. It will leave you shell shocked but satisfied. The cinematography and locations are beautiful and both do a wonderful job of capturing 1970's rural Arkansas and the mood of this film. The actors, particularly the young lead, do a superb job. There was not a bad performance in this small tight cast. The soundtrack is beautifully done and really supports the movie well, but without getting in the way. This movie is a must see!

SPOILER: When Papaw died, I cried. Seriously. I'm from Arkansas, lost my papaw not that long ago (not like in this film though) ... he was a hunter. I was a year old in 1973, grew up in the 1970s Arkansas... so this film hits a bit close to home for me.

One of the saddest films I've ever seen. It's a very somber dramatic thriller film from the start and remains that way throughout the movie - it's a tear jerker - fair warning if you decided to watch this one.

"It'll be alright come morning" papaw said to his grandson D before he passed on. It is an appropriate title for the film... and in one way everything was made alright, but in another way it was not because D will never forget this day and the events that unfolded over night into the morning light.

Well worth watching if you like extremely sad movies - if you don't then pass this film by because it might have tears in your eyes.

10/10

Quality micro-budget feature with muted, measured direction, naturalistic performances and a serious intent. It's a film I respected far more than enjoyed as, ultimately, it suffered somewhat from little variation in its somber, one note, tone (picking up only slightly in the last few minutes). The unintentional effect (or, perhaps, it was very intentional) is it made the film slower than it needed to be and considerably less engaging. You tend to witness it occur, as opposed to be involved with it. I hope this flaw is corrected in Mr. Sim's future films (unless it really is an artistic choice - in which case I might not agree with it, but I'm not going to fault it). Still in all it was a relief to see the restrained performances, equally restrained direction, and have it all play out in a confidently realistic milieu.