Things That Hang from Trees

This film is a bore. i like unconventional, foreign and art films, but they have to have a character or story element that holds some kind of interest. this lacks any interesting element or character. Unger is strong, and her character could have saved this film, but alas, it just doesn't happen. for me there is nothing worse than an art film that is filled with clichés. weak effort.

I guess the biggest problem was the script, but it's the director's responsibility to recognize those problems and turn clichés into original and interesting characters, or dispense with them. when the boys father shows up and is a nasty a**hole, it's just another eyeball rolling moment. This film is loaded with them. although it looks good and is shot well enough, the story-telling is just amateurish.

An extremely dark narrative about a young boy & his strange relationship with his mum (Deborah Kara Unger) who operates a sexy lingerie shop in a conservative southern township that clearly doesn't want her. (It doesn't help her situation that she models the nighties she sells in the windows storefront) Everything is tricky from the start for the young boy. He's bullied continuously & is frozen blank with fear of all that surrounds him. (Including the sickening memories of his estranged & deranged father the part played expertly by Ray McKinnon) The complications for the boy & his mother aren't simply resolved, & so the future of these characters isn't clear. The ending is enjoyably ambiguous & because of its general strangeness it will earn its spot in the genre of the cult film.

A great movie at Atlanta Film Festival. A slow but atmospheric look at the strange inhabitants of a small southern town. Racism, childhood trauma and religious hypocrisy abound.

The Director spoke about the film after and mentioned that the tree in the novel held a much greater symbolic importance than was in the movie. Though I didn't read the novel I could see that being true. That in my opinion was the weakest element of the movie. The only time they showed it was during begin credits and at the end. I'll read the novel.

This movie is a cult-classic-to-be because so many different feelings and opinions can be derived from its awkward quietness and because of the beautiful imagery and rich alien atmosphere it's the kind of movie you want to see times over.

I was actually looking forward to seeing this film at the Austin film festival, but I was a little disappointed. The plot, although interesting and somewhat emotional, is presented in a tricky and sometimes confusing way. After seeing the movie, I looked to the person sitting next to me, and asked if they knew what had just happened. After seeing "Things that Hang from Trees", I went to its page here on this website and read the plot. To my surprise, it was completely different than what I thought it would say. Now that I think about it, it makes sense, but I shouldn't have to read the plot after the film to find out what the heck was going on. Nice try by the director, a period piece requires a lot of work and it truly shows in the overall picture and look of the film, but the story is just not there...

Saw this at SXSW and liked it. The flick centers around a sort-of-autistic kid? whose whacked-out mother (Deborah Unger) models lingerie in the window of her store. The characters are all pretty grotesque and are almost more a symbol to the kid instead of believable peoples. (especially the kids abusive dad played by one of my favs -the crazy priest in Deadwood---Ray McKinnon.) My main problem with the film is the lack of any magical quality to the tree of which the whole film is named?

The acting (casting especially) was good, the story is there---subtle with a deemphasis on plot which has it flirt dangerously with dullness. Every time though, the story surprises.

I found the cinematography to be one of the films strongest elements- Not perfect but pretty impressive for first time director.