There are a few films that I think contributed to what put me off horror for life. I mean it’s not like I wouldn’t watch it at all anymore, but best believe if it’s not something I’m watching with someone, I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it. And this movie is one of them. I love psychological thrillers as a genre to an extent, but then stepping up the game to horror and I’m not quite sure I can do it.
Of course, when I saw that this movie is based off of the book by Stephen King, “In the Tall Grass,” the eerie aura and countless complexities and perplexities began to make a lot of sense to me as the is innately his field. Things that border on the spiritual with a lot of creepiness thrown into it. I wouldn’t want to say any more as a premise so I’ll simply present it to you.
In The Tall Grass (2019)
Like I said before, it’s an adaption of Stephen King’s book and is directed by Vincenzo Natalie, starring actors like Patrick Wilson, Layla De Oliveira and so on. It’s a horror/drama film and lasts for about an hour and thirty minutes.
So here’s the gist. A pregnant Becky(Layla De Oliveira) and her brother, Cal(Avery Whitted), are on their way to San Diego in order to give up her baby once born for adoption as the father, Travis(Harrison Gilbertson) wants nothing to do with the baby. Along the way, they hear the cries of a child coming from a corn maze, grass thing, that is taller than them. And in the classic fashion that belongs to Westerners, they decide to go in and investigate the little boy crying in in the grass field and probably save him.
Pausing here to wonder if this is indeed a common thing among Westerners(Europeans and Americans) to be overly curious and inquisitive. Because, it is something you can’t, for the life of you, dare try as an African. Whatever crying inside a grass should probably save itself for getting there in the first place. Maybe survival skills 101? Hehe.
Anyway, I digress...
So yeah, Cal and Becky enter the grass to investigate why the child is crying and soon enough lose each other. They try to se land marks by tying grasses together in a bid to let each other know where they are and find their way but the second they do that and leave, the grass immediately detangles on its own. A series of other things happen which reach a steaming point when they meet this family - The Humboldts.
And then there’s the big black rock in the middle of it all that symbolizes a lot of things more supernatural than is really explained. The rock isn’t a normal one as it holds souls and seems to be the power house behind everything weird going on in the grass. It becomes a constant maze and evolves into a time warp thing where the same events, deaths alike, keep repeating themselves over and over again. The only way out is if someone becomes the sacrificial lamb that stays in. Who would that be?
So yeah, I hope I’ve not failed at not giving too much about this film. It’s not the most ideal one. And even had low ratings on IMDb. But I think this film is cool. Even though there are a few plot holes and a lot of things left unexplained, I think that’s the beauty to it. Because the more you know, the less you really see, not to talk about the fact that the more twisted your mind becomes. Open your mind to all the possibilities, howbeit imperfect, that this film has to portray. And just maybe, you might enjoy it's creepy warp.
Have a pleasant day, everyone!