The Harvest

IFC Midnight | Release Date: April 10, 2015

6.2	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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buffnfaithSep 16, 2015

Though listed as a horror film, there are no jump scare moments or gory scenes, but still it does its job of putting the viewer at an uneasy position as tension builds up slowly over the course of the film, putting you more on edge in eachThough listed as a horror film, there are no jump scare moments or gory scenes, but still it does its job of putting the viewer at an uneasy position as tension builds up slowly over the course of the film, putting you more on edge in each minute. The story is similiar to Stephen King's "Misery" and child actors show great breakthrough performances carrying out the film beautifully. I advise anyone planning to see the film not to watch the trailer because it gives away too much of the story including the main twist.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

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BrianMcCriticSep 10, 2015

While the subject matter could have turned this film into a Lifetime feature. Thankfully the performances and a pretty good script make this a real small indie gem. B+

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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LeZeeDec 14, 2015

The truth always finds its way out.

The Majority of us don't even this movie is exist. Because they never promoted it and it never theatrically released. But I came across and accidentally found it, then I decided to give it a try like myThe truth always finds its way out.

The Majority of us don't even this movie is exist. Because they never promoted it and it never theatrically released. But I came across and accidentally found it, then I decided to give it a try like my usual support for the unnoticed flicks. In fact, the movie surprised me, the story was so much better than I thought, I mean awesome. But the movie had its own defects which lets it down. From the director of 'Wild Things', another decent suspense-thriller after almost 15 years.

Facially I recognised some of the actors, but did not know their names, except Michael Shannon. This story is set in a rural town, and most of the scenes were shot in an isolated house and its surroundings. A young girl Maryann, who moved to live with her grandparents after her parents' death, befriends a lonely, very sick boy Andy who has always been in the bed all his life. After a while it becomes a secret relationship once the boy's mother forbids seeing each other due to the severeness of the ill. But only until the secret comes out which leads the boy in jeopardy. So what follows is the double twist, one after another and a fitting conclusion.

"What's the difference between god and a doctor?
God doesn't think he's a doctor."

Felt like I got a very good thriller here, but I extremely disappointed with the performances. To me the actings were the worst part in the entire film, along with a few scenes that I didn't like. Like I said, no doubt about the storyline, one of the best in the recent times, but the screenplay was utterly stupid in a few parts. Those should have been improvised for a better outcome. Especially I can't take it the way the girl for the first time meets the boy. The situation, the development, all were so silly, but somehow they had to come together where the rest of the story builds.

I know I'm kind of criticising it and I'm not intensely doing that. If it was a television movie, hundreds of excuses can be given, but it was not. Initially I expected it to be a creepy flick with haunting stuffs, but soon after I realised it was another kind of horror which I call them a terror-horror (uninvolvement of ghost, spirit, zombie, et cetera, but the human who creates a terrifying atmosphere). The opening was very unusual, but comes to the point very quickly. From introducing the characters to developing the story, it took time as it is not a short movie.

I never got bored, it kept me awake till the end credit. Storywise, I enjoyed it. If it was corrected all the flawed areas as I mentioned, would have been eased to accept the film by everyone. I feel it is worth suggesting, but not to everybody. If you are looking for a mystery film, then you could try it. Despite whatever I said negatively about it, I still can't able to hate it completely. Obviously it is underrated, it deserves to be praised from the one angle. In another I can't pretend like I don't see the flaws. If somebody is going to remake it in 20-30 years later from now, I'll be old and I expect them to emend the mistakes this one made.

7/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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DRauchDoes2015Apr 12, 2015

A neat little under-the-radar thriller devoid of both mindless overindulgence, but also the minimum requisite level of thrills to even classify it in the horror genre, The Harvest's biggest asset, as well as it's achilles heel, is it'sA neat little under-the-radar thriller devoid of both mindless overindulgence, but also the minimum requisite level of thrills to even classify it in the horror genre, The Harvest's biggest asset, as well as it's achilles heel, is it's restraint. This is a film more courteous than many a scare-flick, but it's sensitivity to character interaction is in the service of a story that is neither scary, nor interesting.

The Harvest centers around an orphaned girl who, after moving to a new neighborhood with her grandparents, befriends a deathly ill boy. Her attempts at friendship are met with resistance by the boy's overprotective, venomous mother. I'll avoid redundancy and cut to the chase: it turns out that the boy is actually a child stolen from the hospital raised for the purpose of a heart transplant for the couple's REAL son, who is kept in a hospital room built into the family's basement.

This turn, though less silly than I'd initially assumed, is still ripe with obvious plot-holes. How has no one, in the SEVERAL years that the boy has been kidnapped, ever seen inside the basement? There was a window leading right to the room, even the passing observer could accidentally catch a glance of the room. Why did the couple wait for several years to raise the kidnapped boy, rather than transplant his heart the moment they returned home? The mother being a doctor herself eliminates the need for the boy to be taken to the hospital, where it could be discovered he is not biologically their son, but the whole thing could've been avoided had they put their real son on a waiting list for a transplant. But then we wouldn't have our premise, would we?

I'm willing to suspend my disbelief enough to buy into an absurd concept if it is executed thoughtfully and comes through on it's promise of legit thrills, but The Harvest fails to generate any sense of tension for, no exaggeration, the first 50-minutes. The climax, though containing a subtle, touching moment involving Shannon's character, boils down to little more than a chase through the forest, that ends with the mother simply leaving the children to get away to return home. What tension was drawn in the final moments deflates instantly when the antagonist chooses to simply turn around and leave our heroes alone, a resolve that sounds to silly to even attempt.

Quick mention, there is a side-plot about Shannon's infidelity. It adds some depth to his role, but goes absolutely nowhere.

Veteran thespians Samantha Morton and Michael Shannon lend dramatic credibility to the proceedings (even Peter Fonda shows up as the grandfather, go figure). Morton, sadly, is given the most obvious and over-the-top material, conveying a deranged caretaker in the vein of Annie Wilkes but without the depth of lunacy that Kathy Bates brought to her Oscar winning performance. Shannon is fairly subdued here, but serves as a much needed ballast to Morton's hysterics, and serves as the film's moral center. But the real dramatic anchors lie in the child performances given by Charlie Tahan and Natasha Calis. Tahan has a pasty complexion and sedated delivery befitting his bed-ridden character and Calis has a charming screen presence reminiscent of say, Shailene Woodley, or even Linda Cardellini. On the whole though, there is very little else to say about The Harvest's performances. Everyone is pretty much confined by the limiting emotionally subtlety, which I simultaneously appreciate as a thoughtful occurrence in horror, but also leaves the film a bit mute.

Upon retrospection, the director has taken a very careful execution, so as to not upset the sense of normalcy until later on in the film. There is a display of legitimate craftsmanship and attention to detail in the aspect of the boy's relationship to his 'parents'. McNaughton waits to play his hand just the right amount of time before flipping the table on his audience, but the cards he plays are surprisingly safe, almost PG-level, I'd say. I'm left engaged from the prolonged tease he plays us with, but am also left wondering, "is that it?".

The story is a preposterous one, something you'd see less drawn out and more cheesy had it been a part of a horror anthology film or even a 20-minute episode of The Twilight Zone. It is also, however, so mundane and toothless, that it would be more befitting an episode of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, or hell, even Goosebumps. The twist reveal hasn't the resolve to go to even requisite extremes to shock the audience. I appreciate a film that is as pulled-back as this one, and that deserves serious props. But . . . it's just not worth sitting through. I respect the execution in a dramatic sense. As a thriller, though, what is keeping The Harvest from recommend-ability is fulfilling the bare minimum level of thrills. A genre picture that is pitched seriously and fails on the 'genre' side of things is left to fend for itself as nothing more than a drama, and on that end The Harvest is nothing special… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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BITESCREENJan 23, 2018

Nur um ihren Ex-Boyfriend zu beeindrucken, geht Lisa (Mandy Moore) zusammen mit ihrer Schwester in Mexiko mit zwielichtigen Aufreißern Haikäfigtauchen. Da soviel Blödheit einfach bestraft werden muss, reißt das mickrige Seil binnen MinutenNur um ihren Ex-Boyfriend zu beeindrucken, geht Lisa (Mandy Moore) zusammen mit ihrer Schwester in Mexiko mit zwielichtigen Aufreißern Haikäfigtauchen. Da soviel Blödheit einfach bestraft werden muss, reißt das mickrige Seil binnen Minuten und man sackt genau 47 Meters Down bis auf den Grund. Unten warten neben Panik, Sauerstoffmangel und Tiefenrausch gleich mehrere Große Weiße – die offenbar Riesenappetit auf dumme Touristen haben. Ist die erste halbe Stunde Hohlkopfgelaber erst einmal überstanden, wird 47 Meters Down zwar nicht schlauer, dafür ungleich spannender: Klug kontrastiert Regisseur Johannes Roberts die unendliche Weite des Meeres und die Enge des Käfigs und schafft so ein beklemmendes Setting. Ständig erwartet man eine Attacke aus dem Blau – die nur selten kommt aber umso mehr knallt. Obendrein bleibt die Kamera stets bei den Figuren – ob von oben wirklich Hilfe kommt, ist also so unklar wie die Sicht. So unterhält 47 Meters Down trotz Logikfehlern fast genauso spielend wie der kürzliche The Shallows.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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