IN THE TALL GRASS

US, 2019, 101 minutes, Colour.
Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla de Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Patrick Wilson, Will Buie Jr, Rachel Wilson.
Directed by Vincenzo Natale.

This thriller is based on a novel by Stephen King writing with Joe Hill (the pen-name of Stephen King’s son). There is a quote from the director about not expecting grass to be mysterious and about the transformation of an ordinary field in Kansas into a sinister place.

The plot is very complex, mysterious, timeshifting, place shifting. The basic story is of a young woman with her boyfriend (played by Australian Harrison Gilbertson) travelling to a destination where the young woman can give birth. They go into the mysterious grass when they hear the crying of a young boy. This leads to rather mind-bending situations with a continual search for the boy, his appearance and disappearance. There is also the unexpected arrival of the young woman’s brother, acting in a sinister way.

Time seems to be going in a circle. The characters continue to be lost in the grass. The young boy is found, is lost. Part of the action also takes place in a church, sinister also rather than a haven again with some mysterious characters leading to violence.

Obviously this is a film which those who want to see every story from Stephen King. In many ways, they will be pleased with its often back baffling complexities.

1. The title? The opening visuals, the overview, then within the tall grass, driving through the open fields? The emotion of the characters in the grass, not being able to get out, lifting the boy on the shoulders to try to see a possible exit?

2. The American countryside, the grass and the crops, the paths? The symbolic rock, the illustrations, the comment on its being the geographical centre of the US? The past, humans in the area, the visualising, the grass characters and the rituals and dance? The supernatural themes?

3. The ordinariness of the opening, Becky and her pregnancy, travelling with Carl, her brother? The revelations of their going to San Diego’s for the baby’s adoption? Their stopping, Becky sick, hearing the voice from the grass, dropping her book, Carl and his going into the grass, Becky following?

4. The timeline, the cyclic aspect, going back to beginnings, characters trapped in the grass, the erratic timeline?

5. Cal, the search, in the mud, the dead dog, Freddie? Tobin’s voice and crying? The couple trying to locate Tobin?

6. Time passing, night and day, the couple lost, the lost sense of time? The introduction of Ross and his wife, the real estate business? The dog going into the grass, Tobin following, the mother going in, the clash between husband and wife? His being on the phone? Going in?

7. Travis, his arrival, the father of the child, abandoning Becky, his change of heart, the long time passing, his going to search for her, finding the car, the book? His going into the grass?

8. The transformations inside the grass, Ross, touching the rock, his dominance, care for his son, clashes with his wife, the encounters with Carl and Becky, his violence, his dominance, his vision? Going into the building, the pursuit? Back into the grass, his violence, Becky and his eyes? His killing his wife?

9. The deeper story about Carl and Becky, Travis and the accusations, Cal and his obsession with his sister, intimations of incest desires? Travis, the abandonment, his return? Becky, the pregnancy, the time, the imagination of birth? In the building, the church and the locked door, Travis on the roof, Carl letting him drop?

10. Travis, his decision, to save the others, touching the rock, their escape, his being possessed by the tall grass?

11. The tantalising situation, the shifts in time, the shift in consciousness, moral issues, the supernatural?