In the Tall Grass

A huge disappointment across the board, as I expected a far more polished experience from Stephen King's story and the director of the original Cube. The trailer got me incredibly excited; it never even crossed my mind that King had written a book years ago about grass that sort of lives and plays with everyone who steps onto its territory. Don’t get me wrong, the initial thirty minutes were excellent, the characters seemed likable, the story was picking up well, and I was genuinely on edge the whole time. However, as time went on, the incessant screaming of each character started to grate on my nerves, the plot got increasingly tangled (which wouldn't have bothered me if there had been a decent resolution, but there wasn't), and it honestly started to bore me. The only aspect of the film that maintained a high standard throughout was the audiovisual aspect. You could immediately tell that the budget probably had a lot of zeros. But that doesn't change the fact that, all things considered, it was simply weak. I’m giving it 45%. (10/13/2019)

There are tons of genre movies that feature a space-time paradox, and so In the Tall Grass really needed to come up with something innovative and interesting in order to rise above all the others. However, it is unfortunately not a very imaginative movie, and is very repetitive, and watching it can only bring some mild satisfaction at best from a completely forgettable horror one-off. In the worst case, it will cause indignation over the wasted potential of the cast (Patrick Wilson has a pretty terrible role here) and the engagement of a once promising horror movie director, who has today somehow lost his touch. (11/16/2019)

It's actually a good thing the novella on which this film was based hasn't been published here yet, because I couldn't/didn't compare it to the source material and could "just" be surprised and entertained. And there was definitely something to enjoy! At first the viewer thinks "Oh, so some variation of Children of the Corn?", but that's a big mistake, because the film turns out to be something completely different. Better. Before it was over, I knew I would have to watch it again soon, and that doesn't happen all that often. It's another great addition to the family of films produced in 2019 based on Stephen King’s work (actually, more like Joe Hill, since I mostly saw his handwriting in the story). (10/04/2019)

The director of Cube, along with Netflix and Stephen King, made a mindfuck that I didn't buy at all. It starts of weell. Tall grass, lost people and a chance to develop an interesting mythology with unknown rules, but the creators start to weave in complex time loops in which the viewer gets even more lost than the people in the grass themselves. The film tries to look smart, but it's more of a plot potluck without any sense, and I really hate it when a character dies and is soon there again, over and over. There are no jump-scares or gore either, so a really uninteresting and very boring affair for me at least. 40% (10/07/2019)

First off, I couldn't stand the awful visuals and camera work – digital grass, really? The intertwining timelines were intriguing, but ultimately didn’t deliver anything that knocked me off my feet, topped off with an unsatisfying resolution. In the Tall Grass feels like a 20-minute short unnecessarily stretched to 101 minutes, with Patrick Wilson delivering the worst performance of his career. I haven't read the original story, but this film didn't pique my interest enough to choose this one over other King novels. I usually enjoy minimalist films and horror, but this odd blend of Cube and Children of the Corn just didn't do it for me. Honestly, I expected more from Natali. (01/21/2020)