Trim Season

Lured in by the smoke and fire and mysterious trailer. What a lie. This movie stinks as bad as a pot house.

It's not really a horror movie or a slow burner. There's no plot, or it's so weak and poorly executed, I didn't notice it. Just a bunch of woke young adults smoking weed and acting high and stupid. If I employed trimmers who smoked more than they trimmed, they'd be deep sixed too.

The filming was amateur. The movie tried so hard to paint the Redwood Forest like some grizzly dark place filled with backwoods monsters. The movie did however accomplish establishing that the characters were just city brats who ignorantly bought into every misconception, misunderstanding, and disrespect for nature, wilderness, and people who live there. What we might think of as a typical city snob.

Where's the plot? What's the point? What is the story telling us? I don' know. Maybe that you shouldn't write and produce a movie while under the influence of weed and alcohol. I think I have an idea what they tried to say, but this movie is so poorly executed, I can only guess. It's just a strung together series of senseless scenes with bad background music. I think they were trying to have scenes to make an existing high/trip more trippy. It failed. They're just weird and boring.

No way ever would I recommend this movie, it's a complete fail.

Tip: When writing while high, write down ideas then review them when you sober up.

A poor concept that is barely half thought out (perhaps conceived while high?) and never properly explained.

Weak writing that leaves you not liking a single character in the film (especially the one they are desperate for you to like). Far too much time spent establishing characters and giving you their backstory for very little point (many horror movies do this but nearly as much as this one).

Awful acting pretty much across the board. Their is the odd exception but those people are not on screen enough to make a difference.

The only good things to say for it are the opening scene is interesting and the film looks quite good.

If you're looking for a mindless gorefest with underdeveloped stock characters, move on. This is a smart little horror treat with a good assortment of characters, interesting casting and a well-crafted supernatural story. The expansive setting and beautiful cinematography keep this limited location production from ever feeling claustrophobic.

Bethlehem Million does a great job anchoring a likeable offbeast cast as a girl whose life is imploding. Out of work and a home, she and her besti friend Julia take a risky job trimming weed at a remote pot farm in the mountains of northern California.

We know from the opening teaser that something deadly and supernatural awaits them, something more powerful and unique than the hack-and-slash violence you'd typically find in this kind of movie.

The acting and direction are excellent. There's one non-binary character thrown in to satisfy the woke generation, but their acting chops are a plus, giving new meaning to the term "scream queen."

The music is angelically eerie, befitting a movie driven by sorcery and sympathetic magic. There are several gory effects and brutal violence, all in the context of the story and just gratuitous enough to please most genuine horror fans.

While I personally feel this is exactly what low budget horror should be, I've deducted one star for the muddled flashbacks, which make up about one percent of the movie. While they don't detract from the story, they don't add as much as they could.

If you're up for a unique little horror thriller that delivers a solid story with good production values, give it a shot.