THE TALL MAN

US/Canada France, 2012, 106 minutes, Colour.
Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen Mc Hattie, William Davis, Samantha Ferris.
Directed by Pascal Laugier.

The Tall Man is an atmospheric film, made in Canada but set in Washington State, USA. It is set in a remote town where the mind has closed down and the community is in a state of decay. The main plot concerns the disappearance of children, and a legend which has grown up that they were taken by The Tall Man.

The local police investigate as do police coming in from Seattle, trying to find any of the bodies of the children have disappeared. Central to the action is the local nurse, played by Jessica Biel, widow of the doctor husband. She helps the locals, acting as a midwife, kindly to everyone. When her son is abducted and she pursues the Tall Man – at the plot becomes complicated with the young woman who can’t talk but wants to meet the Tall Man and a distraught mother whose son has been taken.

There is a most unexpected twist towards the end of the film, which leaves the viewers quite uneasy at the solution of the mystery.

1. The title? The myth, people repeating it, describing it? In the psyche of the community, of individuals? The reality?

2. The tension in the drama, the voice-over by Jenny (who had practically no voice in real life), her wanting to see the Tall Man? The repetition of the myths? The visuals of the children in the community, normal behaviour, the disappearances? Julia, her life, her doctor husband, doing good, nursing, in the town, her kindness?

3. The setting in the State of Washington, Canadian locations? The town, the forest? The interiors, the diner, home, the cave, prison? The musical score?

4. The tone of the drama, the horror touches? The unexpected twist and realisation of what had happened and why?

5. Cold Town, its look, the police emerging from the cave in the search? Julia and the removal of glass from her face? The flashbacks in this context, coming back to this sequence with a different perspective?

6. Going back 36 hours? Julia’s story, and the twist? The shifts in audience sympathy?

7. The story of the abductions, the children and their vanishing, the police and the search of the cave, not finding any traces?

8. Julia, the three young girls wanting help, the pregnant girl, the birth of the child? Tracy and her antagonism towards Julia, yet liking her? Tracy and Jenny? Jenny and her inability to speak, writing notes, communicating with Julia? Tracy and her partner, his brutality, hostility? Julia and her rounds? The reaction to the grief of the people? The encounter with the police, the people in the diner, her offering the coffee to the bereaved mother? At home, Christina as the nanny, little boy, the games, meals, happiness? And the irony that he had been an abducted?

9. The scene of the abduction, the Tall Man, the radio and its religious urging to conversion, Christine and her being tied up and tortured? Julia waking, seeing that the boy had gone, chasing the van, catching it, on the back, stopping, going under it? Reaching out to the boy? The confrontation with the Tall Man? On the road, her injuries, the police and coming past, getting help? Going into the diner, the woman being kind, helping her wash, fresh clothes? But the reaction of the townspeople, the discussions, blaming Julia, her being a target, her escaping, hiding in the old warehouse? The mother, the truth about the abduction, her taking the child back?

10. Julia’s house, the search, going through the back to the caves? Julia’s arrest? The story of her husband and his being a doctor, doing good? Julia confessing to the abductions, her rationalisation, helping the community after it had lost the mine and was in community depression?

11. The prison, the mother coming to see her, the discussions, the truth?

12. Jenny, at home, escaping into the woods, being taken? The voice-over and the description of her three mothers, birth mother, Julia and kindness, the adoptive mother? Jenny in the city, opportunities, the dilemma of whether to go back or take the opportunities? Seeing the little boy in the street with his adoptive mother?

13. The abductions, giving the babies and children to parents, the money, the deals, whether Julia knew about the details or not? Or thinking that the children had been killed? There being no traces of graves?

14. Audience response to the situation, especially to the plight of the children, abduction, the grief of the parents, their searching? And the mystery of Julia and her motivations and behaviour?