Dark River (2017)

Following the death of her father, Alice (Ruth Wilson) returns to her home village for the first time in 15 years, to claim the tenancy to the family farm she believes is rightfully hers.

Director:

Clio Barnard

Writers:

Clio Barnard, Lila Rawlings (story development) (as Lila V. Rawlings)

Stars:

Ruth Wilson, Jonah Russell, Paul Robertson

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ruth Wilson	...	Alice Bell
Jonah Russell	...	Pete
Paul Robertson	...	Declan
Sean Bean	...	Richard Bell
Una McNulty	...	Susan Bell
Esme Creed-Miles	...	Young Alice
Aiden McCullough	...	Young Joe
Olivia Brennan	...	Ellie
Mark Stanley	...	Joe Bell
Joe Dempsie	...	David
Mike Noble	...	Rowan
Steve Garti	...	Jim
Dean Andrews	...	Matty
Kenton Foster	...	Auctioneer
Jake Hayward	...	Young David

Storyline

After receiving news of her father's death, Alice, a young travelling sheep-shearer, tentatively decides to return to the dilapidated family house of her childhood, in muddy North Yorkshire. Surprisingly, it's been already fifteen years since Alice left behind an ailing dad and her older brother, Joe, to wander about from farm to farm; however, this cold and heavy homecoming will be Alice's last chance to reclaim the land she believes was once promised to her. But, now, on one hand, there's Joe's resentment paired with a rancorous rivalry between siblings--while, on the other hand--fleeting mournful shadows of a troubled past permeate the walls of an imperfect prize. What will it take to keep the haunting memories at bay?

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Plot Keywords:

brother sister relationship | farm | rural setting | haunted by the past | yorkshire | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Original literary source: "Trespass", novel by Rose Tremain, Chiatto &Windus, London, 4-3-2010, 253 pages, ISBN: 9780701177942.

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Quotes

Alice: Wait.
[pause]
Alice: We should cut that field.
Joe Bell: I don't cut for silage. I leave it for hay.
Alice: They're all skin and bone.
[pause]
Joe Bell: Come here. I wanna show you summat.
[pause]
Joe Bell: It's shepherd's needle. You don't see it very often. Not round here, anyway. When it comes through its seed pods, they look like a needle. When you cut it for silage, all you end up doing is... killing everything that's under it. In one acre of hay meadow... you've got 400 million insects. 600 million mites. Two million spiders. Burnet moths....
[...]

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Soundtracks

An Acre of Land
Traditional British song
Adapted by Harry Escott
Sung by PJ Harvey (as P.J. Harvey)

User Reviews

Poor screenwriting

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

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dark River

Filming Locations:

Northallerton Prison, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,246, 1 July 2018

Gross USA:

$7,714

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$239,182

Company Credits

Production Co:

BFI Film Fund, BFI's Film Found, British Film Institute (BFI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1