God's Country

What the trailers look like plot is: A black woman has to defend herself against racist men antagonizing her. What the movie is actually about: A karen continually escalating a conflict. Yes, that one brother was a racist asshole, but they were actually only wanting to hunt. At first I was on the protagonist's side, but after everything from the trailer is shown in the first thirty minutes and she's calling her neighbor and colleague about them in his driveway, I questioned if she was a reliable narrator and everything was in her head. I got the director's intent about a minority woman fighting against racism and sexism (did a great job showing microaggressions) but the execution was a complete failure.

Thandiwe Newton has a solid performance as Sandra; an apathetic former New Orleans officer turned public speaking professor at a local university in the American west. By the looks of the majestic scenery, it appears to be in Montana. Though slow paced and limited dialogue, the story and underline tone leaves the viewer to deduct there is more than just what is apparent on the surface. One can believe this movie addresses identity politics and the embedded patriarchy in the university and law enforcement professions. One can also focus on the symbolism of the deer, her fawn and dog which could represent societies argument and struggle with abortion and single parenthood. The viewer can also focus on the evil white males who seem to not only struggle with their own personal demons, but with why society needs them to change and how some of those evil white males know change needs to happen but are not strong enough to speak out and make it happen. Or maybe the movie is just a simple story of a lonely embittered woman who is trying to run from her past, hide in "Gods Country" only to find there is no peace. She has had enough and displaces the anger she has with a broken system on the brothers and work colleague whom she feels represents all that is wrong with our society. Either way, it was thought provoking and maybe worth another watch in order to catch what was missed or reinterpret what may actually be.

Greetings again from the darkness. Do you ever have that feeling that if no one's going to do something then "I guess I will"? These days it seems our systems and institutions are failing us, and that's at the heart of what is eating at Sandra (Thandiwe Newton), a college professor living in a remote house in the mountains. When the film opens, she is at the crematorium for her recently deceased mother. Soon after, two hunters park on her land, and their reactions after she politely asks them not to, tells us where this story is headed. Writer-director Julian Higgins and co-writer Shaye Ogbanna never give Sandra (or us) any reason to think everything is going to be just fine. It's a slow-burn towards disaster, and we can't help but watch to see how bad situations turn worse and how the conclusion plays out. Violence is expected ... especially after we see how ineffective the local acting Sheriff (Jeremy Bobb) is at his job. The "chapters" in this story are actually the days numbered so that we can keep up with the tension. A red truck, an arrow in the door, a police report, a faculty meeting, a church organist, and the disclosure by a student (Tanaya Beatty) all lead us to the dreaded seventh day. The stress builds for Sandra, who manages to hold her tongue quite often, right up until she doesn't. It's clear to us that she's carrying a bitterness and a chip ... and seeking vengeance. It's easy for us to emphasize with Sandra in the first two acts, though it's likely many will join me in being a bit disappointed in the final act.

A woman is harassed by two bad men. Like we need yet another movie with that premise. There was NOTHING in this film that had an ounce of reality. There was potential here for a good thriller but without the latter. The idea of Deliverance was plausible in 1972, but not in 2022. I did not believe ANYTHING that happened in this movie. No way any of this would actually happen. Even if you have a made-up or some ludicrous scenario make it believable. The biggest problem is the writer (typical writer problem) forces the action by dumb decisions made by characters, rather than the characters being driven by action due to no fault of their own. E.g, if you write a character that jumps into a lake filled with snakes, you force the action, compared to the character being pushed into the lake. Overall it was just boring and the premise was ridiculous.

It has barely a plot. An incoherent story with no real concrete motivations that filled in the missing gaps with liberal nonsense as if that would magically fix their lack of talent. The pacing is glacially slow and made the runtime feel 4 hours long. The cinematography was very amateurish, filled with dulled colors and a grey palate that felt like the quality was video tape. The music was melancholy and lacking. The acting from the lead was ok, far from perfect. She had nothing to work with, but for a supposed woman born and raised in Louisiana she had no local accent or mannerisms. Stay far away from this trash.