Review of The Tree (2010) by Raindawn D — 16 Jul 2011

In "The Tree," Peter O'Neil(Aden Young) dies from a massive heart attack on the way home from work one day. His widow Dawn(Charlotte Gainsbourg) is morose and cannot even get up from bed most days, leaving the house to become a disaster area. That's okay because their 8-year old daughter Simone(Morgana Davies) communes with her father's spirit who she feels inhabits the giant tree in their yard.(By contrast, Dawn does not take to a life of crime fighting when a bat invades the kitchen one night.) Things slowly come back to life as Tim(Christian Byers), the oldest son, gets a part-time job. Dawn does, too, almost by accident while she is looking for a plumber to take care of the frogs in the toilet.

"The Tree" is a slight, if not totally insignificant, movie. What it is mostly concerned with is the role of nature and how totally unpredictable it can be, especially in the Australian outback which is photographed well.(Apparently, they don't have seasons as we know them, so occasionally we get an update on how much time has passed.) All of sorts of creatures, not intending harm, have cameos. But it is the giant tree that dominates the landscape and impacts not only the O'Neils but also the neighbors that is the biggest star of the movie. And like nature, the grieving process does not run by a specific timetable.