God's Country

God's Country is a slow burn but quite an impressive debut feature from Julian Higgins, beautifully enhanced by cinematographer Andrew Wheeler. Thandiwe Newton is good in the lead role of college professor, Sandra, who faces not only the power of the Patriarchy in the workplace but the existential threat of violence living alone and isolated on her Montana property. When she pushes back against two brothers who feel they have the proprietary right to hunt on her property, she is set on a collision course with the local men. An ex-New Orleans police officer, she's no pushover but you will have to decide whether or not her final resort to violence is a justifiably measured response.

The entire 102 runtime needed to be chopped to a short film to keep this story engaging. At least 80% of this film was unnecessary, convoluted nonsense and filler that should've ended up on the cutting room floor. Don't even get me started on the ridiculously slow pacing and long dragged out and unnecessary scenes.

Too many points tried to be made, but none really succeeded - and in the hands of any decent filmmaker, it wouldn't have felt like such a chore to even attempt to make said points. Many scenes and dialogue were just nonsense and unrealistic, and just came and left out of nowhere. It was just sloppy sloth writing and directing that felt like none of it was edited, and random bits from other screenplays was mixed in the blender. And even then, it was all too predictable and cliched.

The worst part is, you'll invest all this time trying to stay engaged, but will be very let down with the lamest, simplistic and most cliched predictable ending. You'll cringe when asking yourself "that's it?". This type of story has been done many times before, and much better than this mess of style and filler over any real substance. The only redeeming qualities this film had was Newton's performance and great cinematography with breathtaking scenery. Just watch the trailer and the last 2 mins of the movie - there's your entire story.

College professor Sandra (Thandiwe Newton) lives alone in the middle of nowhere Montana after losing her mother. Two local hunters keep trespassing on her property. The confrontations slowly build. She's struggling with an unevolved superior at work. The acting sheriff is limited help. The actual sheriff is on leave after shooting a local.

This movie is quiet. In a way, it's too quiet. Newton is doing good quiet with simmering rage. The tree farm confrontation is good tension. So is the invitation into the trailer home. There are moments and scenes with great tension. Mostly, the movie is way too quiet and the tension slips. It needs to build the tension, but Sandra doesn't change. It's a little flat.

A complex subject matter is carefully investigated and demonstrated in God's Country. How many of us had lashed out and acknowledged to ourselves of the misdirection of it. It's Sandra's view of herself unable to challenge the right place like many other men and women it bursts out, this is what's impressive of this tale it manages to give a perfect demonstration of unrests that has no roots. The snowy mountains and misty plains surrounded by gloomy forests is symbolic to the nothingness but conflicts are possible even in god's country. For the wonderful performance by Ms Newton's flawless this movie deserves credit.

I get it. You should stand for something rather than fall for anything. Still, this lady was really pushing the envelope by escalating everything. I mean she was really asking for it. She broke more laws than the aggressors. Ironically, her past job should have gave her insight and made her smarter about it. Honestly, I don't know what the moral of this story is. I feel she should have put up a fence or moved. Why would any single woman live in the most remote area knowing there are few law enforcement to provide protection.? She had to have known how risky this would be. I'm a guy and even I wouldn't feel comfortable living in the middle of nowhere alone. To top it off, she threw her only friend under the bus. This is like watching any vigilante movie where the bad guys were not as aggressive as the vigilante. I dunno....