When I heard that John McNaughton had directed a new feature, I was thrilled because I'm a huge fan of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, MAD DOG AND GLORY and WILD THINGS. I knew nothing about the picture except for the principal cast when I put the screener in.

 

THE HARVEST is very hard to describe. I still don’t really know what genre it is. Thriller? Drama? Maybe it doesn't matter. But in some ways I don't think it knows what it is either or who the intended audience is. And that is a problem.

Michael Shannon and Samantha Morton play the parents of a sick little boy named Andy, played by Charlie Tahan. He spends his days bedridden or in a wheelchair while they take care of him. And the opening of the picture is really, really, really slow. At that point I had no idea where it was headed and I was not at all engaged.

 

Then Maryann played by Natasha Calis shows up as a new girl in town living with her grandparents and she breathes life into the picture. When she meets Andy and starts a friendship suddenly there is something to watch on screen. And then I began to think maybe it's a coming of age story.

 

About halfway through there is a big reveal that starts to open your eyes as to what is really going on. Though there are still twists and turns to follow. And I'm not going to get into any of that.

 

Michael Shannon is an odd though compelling performer and I've seen a lot of his work. He seems to be sleepwalking through this role. He is physically present for his family, but emotionally absent. Once you understand what's going on, I suppose it makes more sense, but that doesn’t suddenly make the first half of the picture more compelling.

 

Samantha Morton is a talented actress, but her performance here is all over the place. It's very strange work veering from tenderness to rage, but I found her anger and rage mostly annoying and kept waiting for Michael Shannon to really stand up to her and shut her down. It seems like she's supposed to be "scary" in this picture, but I don't know that the screenplay or performance go far enough in that direction.

 

Peter Fonda as Maryann's Grandfather is completely wasted here. The role is thin and underwritten and he is really given nothing to do.

 

Because so much of what is really going on is meant to be a surprise later in the picture, I think the story really needed a point of view change. We're not meant to understand the family dynamic of Shannon, Morton and their son, yet we spend most of the screen time with them. If the story was all from Maryann's point of view, about her arrival in town and her meeting Andy and seeing his family and then her eventual discovery halfway through, it would be a much more compelling mystery that would engage the audience. Instead, because the picture is so very slow, I think most viewers will tune out long before the reveal.

 

I'm excited if THE HARVEST means that John McNaughton is back directing features. But I can't recommend it and I wouldn’t even know who to recommend it to. But Natasha Calis who I know from THE POSSESSION and TV's THE FIRM is definitely someone to watch.

REVIEW: "The Harvest" by Brian McQuery

STARRING:

Samantha Morton
Michael Shannon
Natasha Calis

 

DIRECTED BY:

John McNaughton

 

RELEASE DATE:

April 24, 2015 (Los Angeles)

Arena Cinema

also playing on VOD

 

DISTRIBUTED BY:

Das Films
Elephant Eye Films
Living Out Loud Films

 

UNRATED