Review of The Harvest (2015) by Jesse O — 11 Sep 2015

Honestly, if it wasn't for the first half of this movie, which is a little bit plodding and features Disney-esque acting from the two teens, I'd have given this movie a higher rating. This isn't even what I'd call a horror movie per se.

The last hour or so of the film, when the film really gets going and kicks it into next gear, is really fucking good. While there are some horrific things done, particularly when you think about how long this ordeal has actually being going on and the consequences of Richard's and Katherine's actions, but it's not like the film sets out to terrify you with scares or draw you into its story through the use of atmospheric visuals.

It's a film that focuses on something that's infinitely more real than what horror films tend to do and that is the dedication some parents have to their children and the, sometimes, horrible things they'd do in order to ensure their child's survival.

Samantha Morton and Michael Shannon, as is usual, give great performances and they're, honestly, the glue that holds the film together because, without them, the movie would not have been much. It's not that the film would've been bad or anything, but there's some weird scripting choices in the first half of the film.

Parts of the first half play out like a really cheap Lifetime movie. And, honestly, the plot of the film does sound like something out of a Lifetime movie, though the execution is what keeps it from reaching that level.

Like I said, Samantha and Michael do a great job at elevating formulaic material past what it would've been without them. The reason it works is because, while the film doesn't play into this at all, I can see how Richard and Katherine, particularly the latter, thought that they were doing a good thing for their son.

And you can sort of see how Katherine's selfishness in wanting to keep her son alive got the best of her and how she's completely transformed into someone that her past self wouldn't even recognize.

Again, the film doesn't show you this, but you can get a feeling of it from Samantha's performance. Of course, Richard is just as guilty as Katherine if only for the fact that he allowed this to go on for as long as it did, when he could've, very easily, put a stop to it.

Again, this is all from Michael's and Samantha's performances, they do add that layer that the film probably lacked. Not to mention that it's something that many parents can relate to. Perhaps not go as far as these two did, but the idea that you'd do absolutely anything for your child.

The cinematography is nothing special and the acting from the teens themselves, Andy and Maryann, isn't great. Though the actress who plays Maryann does have some good moments. This is a movie that definitely requires some patience, because it starts out slow enough and it sometimes comes across as cheap, but trust me that it turns into a damn good film when it does get going.

The ending is really cheap-looking as well, like TV-movie quality, but it was something minor since the film was pretty much over by that point. Good movie, though there could've been some improvements made to some of the scripting during the first half.

Solid Netflix watch.