Reckoning

The story unfolds well, keeping you interested all the way through.

The main character, Lemon, is perfect; a seemingly vulnerable woman at the start turning into a strong lioness protecting her cub.

There is not a lot of dialogue, but you understand exactly the history and context that has brought Lemon into her current perilous situation as well as how it all plays out.

The backwoods people and their ancient ways brings the latent horror and violence that exists in films such as Deliverance. The ex-city dwellers frankly weird cult, brings a different type of horror shown best in films such as The Wicker Man.

Sounds odd, but it all ties in very well, making this a very compelling story.

I saw the film at the Atlanta film festival and I was blown away. Right off the bat. the cinematography was drew me in, with a generous sampling of panoramic views of the north Georgia mountains scattered throughout the movie. But what really made the movie memorable was the acting and the story. Danielle Deadwyler gives a brilliant performance as a woman struggling to survive and to protect her young son from untrustworthy neighbors in their isolated Appalachian village. The pacing of the film is excellent, allowing the tension to build until the story reaches an unexpected climax.

The filmmakers should be proud. They've crafted a gem.

I watched the mini trailer for this on Netflix and it intrigued me enough to want to watch it straight away. The intense scene between Danielle Deadwyler and Catherine Dyer in the kitchen was nerve racking. Both fantastic actresses within their own right, you could have cut the air with a knife, the intensity was electrifying.

I was completely drawn in by Lemon (Deadwyler) my heart ached for her and her son, every step of the way and I wanted things to work out for them both.

I don't want to go too much into the plot.

Yes it is a slow burning film, but I was never bored once whilst watching it. It really is so mesmerizing and all the acting is good and the scenery is breath taking.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone.

The Devil to Pay: Set in a remote region of Appalachia which is essentially self-governing, there's a Creed (Covenant) but stronger folks as always bend the rules. Lemon (Danielle Deadwyle) lives a fraught, marginal existence, her husband is missing, she's caring for her son when two heavies arrive. She is summoned to the house of a local strong woman (the heavies "mind" her child); she finds out that her husband owes the woman Tommy (Catherine Dyer) a debt and she now has twi days to make good on that or she and her son will be killed. She searches for her husband, gets a loan of a car in return for delivering vitriol to a strange Cult who live outside of the Creed. The vitriol is to bve used in a ceremony of passing on leadership. Some real Folk Horror vibes *both verbal and visual) here with the Cult's devotion to Nature, sacrifice and rebirth.. Not so much a road movie, rather a mountain movie as Lemon makes her way across hill and dale until she makes a horrifying discovery. But her quest/ordeal is far from over as betrayal and double dealing is exposed. The scenery here is beautiful but can quickly turn threatening as you transform from searcher to prey. The Cult are odd and responsible for some of the most gruesome scenes but their actions have an internal logic. Some other extremely violent sequence on the part of both Lemon and her opponents contribute to the disturbing nature of the film. Much of the horror is psychological though as lemon tries to fulfill Tommy's demands and find ways to outwit her. Reminds me in parts of Winter's Bone, the Wrong Turn reboot and Ozark but it is very much it's own film. Written and Directed by Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye. On Netflix. 8.5/10.

Very satisfying to see the payback, and from someone you'd least expect. And an Interesting look at the backwoods, wow, Deliverance on steroids, I sure hope it's nothing like that in real life.