I went in with the impression it was a horror film akin to "the Witch"... it is not. That's not to say it's a bad film but it just wasn't what I expected.
There is no supernatural tormentor, no spooks, specters or ghosts. What haunts this poor family is far more sinister and real and it will not be for all tastes. This film is bleak and dour and while it's well shot, competently acted and has great atmosphere, by the end I felt beat up, frustrated and heartbroken.
The family (a mother and two daughters) start out victims of circumstance as the husband is killed during war and their crops fail. Then they are victim to the local robber-baron's ruthlessness and greed as he first tried to buy their land out from under them, and then hires henchmen to murder them and burn the homestead to the ground. All this while the mother struggles against deteriorating mental health, leaving the adolescent daughter to try and care for her and her younger sister.
With the world seemingly set against them, the robber-baron has his way when he beats the mother and burns her along with their home, at least allowing her two daughters to escape into the night, fate unknown. There is no resolution, no happy ending and not much more to be said.
If you feel like you want to kill an evening and feel terrible afterwards, this film will do the trick.
There is no supernatural tormentor, no spooks, specters or ghosts. What haunts this poor family is far more sinister and real and it will not be for all tastes. This film is bleak and dour and while it's well shot, competently acted and has great atmosphere, by the end I felt beat up, frustrated and heartbroken.
The family (a mother and two daughters) start out victims of circumstance as the husband is killed during war and their crops fail. Then they are victim to the local robber-baron's ruthlessness and greed as he first tried to buy their land out from under them, and then hires henchmen to murder them and burn the homestead to the ground. All this while the mother struggles against deteriorating mental health, leaving the adolescent daughter to try and care for her and her younger sister.
With the world seemingly set against them, the robber-baron has his way when he beats the mother and burns her along with their home, at least allowing her two daughters to escape into the night, fate unknown. There is no resolution, no happy ending and not much more to be said.
If you feel like you want to kill an evening and feel terrible afterwards, this film will do the trick.