Movie Review: In the Tall Grass (2019)
In the Tall Grass might be one of the best horror films of 2019. This is not something we would usually claim, but it was beautifully-done and a well-executed film in almost every way.
The film is an adaptation of a novel that was co-written by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill. It is directed by Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Hannibal) In the Tall Grass is a film about getting lost. Really lost. And, of course, the unknown horrors that come along with it. The story begins with a car pulling off to the side of the road. In it are a pregnant Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) and her brother Cal (Avery Whitted). Cal is eating a burger that makes Becky a bit nauseous and they pull over so she can vomit. They hear a voice from a field of tall grass just off the side of the road that sounds like a little boy who is lost and he’s begging them to help him find his way out. They decide to go in to help him, and the fun begins.
This film actually took us by surprise. We went in with average expectations. We have seen some Netflix exclusive films before that have been really good, but haven’t really impressed us. We knew that Stephen King’s films are usually pretty good but can be hit or miss depending on who you ask. But when we saw that Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring, Insidious) was in it and that it had only 6 other cast members it really piqued our interest. And what a pleasant surprise it was.
For the most part, the film stays right in the pocket. There are a couple of moments of conflict between the characters, but they are brief. They also were pretty much necessary in the context of the continuity of the story. The overall vibe of this film reminded us of a lot of some kind of a mix between The Shining, and The Blair Witch Project. There is a lot of spooky atmosphere here, definitely some craziness, and some really odd things that happen to the characters along the way that you wouldn’t expect. The film plays with a lot of different concepts having to do with time and space, and it almost walks the line of being able to be considered horror-scifi or even cosmic horror.
Overall, we would 100% recommend that you give In the Tall Grass a watch. We will definitely be watching it again, and adding it to our collection when it comes out on Blu-Ray. In our opinion, it ranks up there with some of the best Stephen King adaptations, and it’s just a solid horror film that managed to exceed our expectations in just about every way.
In the Tall Grass is available to stream on Netflix as of 10/4/2019.
