The Harrow

I didn't expect to like this one. Turns out I did. The story of the rural south in the 70s is well written and the dialog so realistic it brought back memories. The acting by the three main characters was competent, not award winning but solid and believable. I knew quite a few young women back in the day, living in the rural south in love less marriages. Sad and heartbreaking. This film captures that well. The mystery that slowly unravels is also, sadly, quite true to life in my experience. Tragic. Not a true ghost story or an action packed drama but more a poignant slice of southern adversity and sorrow. The young lady that portrayed the daughter reminded me of many I have encountered. Thoughtful film worth the time. No one who knows me would expect me to like it but cannot help it, I did.

"The Harrow" possesses an older film noir/psychological thriller style that you don't get every year. If you like slow build/"Memento" like stories with the flashback/present structure, you'll really enjoy "The Harrow". I was pleasantly surprised how the characters pulled me into their worlds, and there's a great sense of menace that hangs over the film, even though you know from the get go the beautiful Gale (played by the stunning Maggie Geha) is to meet a horrible end. The sister, Ruth shows up years later (a great performance by Sonya Harum) and she stirs the pot of the haunted Miller (a solid performance by Tom McKay, from the Hatfield McCoys TV show) and his memory slowly comes back to the horror of a fateful night that took his lover, Gale from him. There is a great twist at the end, but don't want to spoil it, but the ending is all the more meaningful because of the dramatic build up to the end. It's not horror movie material, but its definitely great dramatic/psychological thriller material if you're looking for a really good story with great performances and solid direction. It's also a beautiful film to look at if you love great cinematography.

The Harrow shows us the importance of perspective when telling a story, an ingredient that we may not realize is paramount to every narration. The related story-line is catchy and interesting, the characters are very likable (yet they have their faults), and the visual aspect of the movie is pleasant and well-shot. The story takes a little while to unfold, but once it does you find yourself eager to find out what happens next while at the same time trying to catch all the little clues and pieces of the puzzle. Overall, I really appreciated the idea behind it about how our memories are shaped by the outcomes of the actions that created them.

A reclusive man gets a visitor who turns out to be the daughter of a woman from his past. The woman was the wife of the man he worked for and after trying to seduce her she gave in quickly and they had an affair. The film is mostly flashbacks of the affair, the memories being triggered by the visits of the daughter who resembles her mother. Just as I was beginning to think it was an OK'ish film but slightly slow and boring, it takes a twist at the end which I didn't see coming. However that last 15 minutes didn't make up for the previous 80 which were unexciting. Overall it's an OK film for a rainy day but don't expect anything earth shattering.

The direction isn't bad at all and overall it's a slick production apart from the parts where the photographer clearly hand-held and wasn't very steady at it.