#inthetallgrass

Worth a watch in my opinion, out now on Netflix.

Not that you have the option to pay to see In the Tall Grass in theaters, but I’m glad I got to see it at home, for free. It’s filled with intrigue, fun little mysteries to solve and great cinematography… up until the end where it all falls apart.

On their way to San Diego, Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) and her brother Cal (Avery Whitted) stop outside an old church, where they hear cries of help from a field of tall grass. Once inside, they quickly become disoriented. There’s something supernatural about the plants surrounding them. Finding a way out appears to be impossible.

The premise is simple but effective. The idea of being lost in a maze with no end is scary. When Cal and Becky realize they can’t even use basic wayfinding tricks to orient themselves, their panic becomes infectious. It appears as though time is meaningless when you’re in the grass, which means Becky’s ex-boyfriend, Travis (Harrison Gilbertson), can come looking for her months after she’s been reported missing but arrive in the ocean of green before she steps a foot outside her car. Every time anyone stumbles upon a carcass, you take a mental note. If Ross (Patrick Wilson) passed a body while searching for his son, Toby y (Will Buie Jr.) then it must mean this will happen later on, etc. You’re having a good time figuring out what’s what. You feel as though you’re making headway on this mystery but the tall grass is getting no less frightening.

The problem with the film is should've been a short. At 101 minutes, “In The Tall Grass” just keeps going until it runs out of stuff to do and then starts throwing weird at the screen just to be weird. It’s a supernatural horror story so you shouldn’t expect everything to make sense. The grass could simply be an ancient evil that must be escaped. That’s enough, but we dig into weird rituals and the field's history, the temporal distortion stuff gets expanded, at one point the movie goes crazy with the special effects and gets pretty gross for no reason. Once again, it’s a horror story. You shouldn’t expect to leave feeling great. If any genre should be comfortable leaving the audience scratching themselves and wishing for a shower, it should be the horror genre.. but make what we see mean something or at the very least add up!

I don’t think I’ve seen a horror movie use the color green as effectively as In the Tall Grass. It’s got some well-earned scares and intriguing ideas but in the end, none of it adds up to much. You wouldn't be losing any money by sitting down with this adaptation of the short story by Stephen King and Joe Hill. Even so, I wouldn’t say it’s worth it. (October 6, 2019)

After hearing a young boy's cry for help, a sister and brother venture into a vast field of tall grass in Kansas but soon discover there may be no way out...and that something evil lurks within.

Studio: Netflix