Dark River

Ruth Wilson carries this film in devastating fashion, through the dark, cold, windy, and disorientating farmland of northern England, where sister and brother vie for tenancy of their deceased father's land. With the menace of Winter's Bone and the tragic tone of Tim Roth's War Zone, the pain of an abused - an emotional cripple trying to forge through the trauma that transcends past and present - has never been made more precipitant than in Dark River. Words ring harsh, blows and falls are felt - this is one that lives you feeling wounded. Precede at your own risk.

It is COVID-19 "stay at home" time, I found this movie on the Kanopy streaming site through my public library. Very English, I had to turn on the captions to be able to understand much of the dialog.

Although I haven't seen a lot of her work I am a big Ruth Wilson fan. About 34-ish here she plays Alice Bell, working for someone on their sheep farm. Then she gets word that her father had died so she travels there to stake her claim for the tenancy for her family's sheep farm but immediately meets resistance from her brother who hasn't been taking very good care of the place.

Alice had left home some 15 years earlier, and in flashbacks we are shown that she suffered from abuse by her father. She still had visions that he was there at times. Most of the story is about Alice and her brother locking horns and struggling to find the best course of action through this difficult situation. She wants to revive the farm, he wants to liquidate and take off with the profits.

Its rating is about right, it is a well made and well acted drama but without much joy.

SPOILER: A welcome change from the British film industry away from lame comedies and its obsession with the plight of minorities and urban dramas to this excellent but disturbing Northern masterpiece. You certainly won't leave the cinema uplifted but if you're a drama fan you'll be well satisfied. I was more shocked than I thought I would to see the lasting effect of child abuse. This is really the foundation of the film which shows how the effects of a dark family secret can resonate for ever. Some excellent strong performances by the actors. This is a very visual film and the use of audio to enhance the impact of the scenes is well worth a special mention.

My rating 8/10 Highly recommended if you like powerful dramas

From the united kingdom.. when kate hears her dad has died, she returns to the family tenancy to fix it up and run it properly. Problem is, her brother, who has worked it with dad for years, wants to run it himself. To top it all off, there are dark family secrets that still have to be worked out. Other reviewers have used the word bleak, and some of it is tough to watch. Those who enjoy hallmark films probably won't like how deep and dark this gets. And sometimes when we're seeing flashbacks, it takes a while to realize we're in the flashback, which is annoying. But the acting and the story are topnotch. There is another scene where we watch kate gut a rabbit she has caught for dinner... that might be hard for some to watch. Can brother and sister get past their own family history and run the farm togther? It's a great film, but there are some very dark moments in this one. Directed by clio barnard, who has been nominated for two Baftas. Film based on the novel by rose tremain. This one has been remade several times, so it must be a good story!

Let me start on a positive note, the acting in this movie is very good. Ruth Wilson in particular, as always, played her role spot on. But I'm sad to say that's the only thing this movie has going for it. There is really no real storyline, unless I missed something? It's very vague and suggests that there was trauma in the woman's past, aside from that it's an hour and a half of an unstable man having mental breakdowns and yelling at people. But I blame none of this on the actors, the directors and writers should have added something. At the end of this movie I feel like I'm in the same place as when I watched the trailer prior, and I really wanted to like this one, it was supposed to be fantastic and Ruth Wilson is perfect in all her films and shows.

I give this a 6/10 based solely on Wilson's performance, otherwise I would give it a 3/10