Elizabeth Harvest

I enjoyed this film. It is different. I can't recall seeing another movie that is quite like it. Elizabeth is a newlywed who is honeymooning with her much older billionaire husband at his private mountain property. The only other people present are a female and blind male who are servants. The home is rather large and Elizabeth is free to enjoy all areas of the property with the only exception being a room that her husband, whom we learn to be a intelligent man of science, has specifically denied her access to. Elizabeth, who seems to come off as a bit ditsy, has a curious nature chooses to explore the room after her husband goes out of town on business. It is at this point she learns more than she bargained for and her life takes a turn for the worse. That is about all I can say about the plot without adding spoilers but I didn't see what was coming and I love that about this film. You are introduced to several different plot twists that pull you in different directions. I've seen that a few people weren't impressed by our lead actress and felt that her acting was off. I didn't feel that way. I felt that her acting was very much in line with her character and what may have initially seemed like bad acting is revealed to be a part of her character. I liked it and felt as though it was a good watch.

A woman is whisked away to her new mountain retreat by her enigmatic husband on her wedding day - it is clear everything is not what it should be.

This is a well made film with great acting and production and, to a minor extent, keeps you wondering. It does lack in story though.

The cast and characters are fantastic! Elizabeth is pretty and vapid like a doll - a counter point to Claire who is intelligent and has real sex appeal. Henry and Oliver are also great being both menacing and pathetic in their own ways.

The execution is very tight from Elizabeth's vacant witterings to the dirt under Henry's finger nails.

When all is said and done a lot of the story feels redundant and disjointed. The pace of the film is nice and leisurely setting up the characters with obvious care; but then - to get where the film wants to go - a lot of this has to be churned up.

With all the references to Fairy-tales and a malevolent patriarch this obviously has a theme of female empowerment and may appeal slightly more to a female audience but does not alienate men. Although a little too briefly it also touches on the pain of loss and, despite technology, the inevitability of death.

Elizabeth (Abbey Lee) is the new trophy wife of rich, older Henry (Ciarán Hinds). He carries his new bride over the threshold of his high-tech remote hilltop manson. Local cop Logan (Dylan Baker) is his close friend. Claire (Carla Gugino) and Oliver (Matthew Beard) are the two caretakers.

The first hour is a good Black Mirror episode. That's what this should have been. The flashback revealing the origin of Elizabeth is mostly unnecessary and slows the pace down too much. The second half could have been compressed with a more thrilling climax. There is a definite decline in tension after an important midway incident.

This movie is definitely something different, it was interesting and entertaining and somewhat engaging. Having just watched the movie I'm not sure how I feel about it yet other than I'm glad that I stuck with it, having been interested at first and then puzzled for a little bit until it started unfolding. They went out on a limb with this one and I think they got most of what they wanted, it is a good movie.

A very young woman marries an older doctor. In their honeymoon he shows his impressive house and explains that everything belongs to her but there is one room she should never get into. As it obvious she did to and things get very ugly.

Explaining more will ruin the many unpredictable surprises after that event. The movie becomes more interesting and engaging even when its pace is it sometimes a bit slow.

The cast is perfect with the calm tone of the movie. Abbey Lee is surprisingly good in a character that needs to generate empathy and sympathy in order for the movie to work. Ciarán Hinds and Matthew Beard are intriguing and mix of good and diabolic as they can be without much effort. The underrated Carla Gugino perfectly handles a mysterious character whose motivations are unclear until the very end.

The only major critics could be; the pace that is sometimes a bit slow and those looking for pure horror will be disappointed; this is mix of science fiction and horror; but overall there are many interesting things to think about that will stay with you after the movie ends.

In brief; far from shallow a movie that deserves to be seen