In the Tall Grass (film)

In the Tall Grass is a 2019 Canadian supernatural horror drama film written and directed by Vincenzo Natali. It is based on Stephen King and Joe Hill's 2012 novella of the same name. It stars Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Will Buie Jr., Rachel Wilson, and Patrick Wilson.

In the Tall Grass
Official poster
Directed byVincenzo Natali
Produced by
Screenplay byVincenzo Natali
Based onIn the Tall Grass
by Stephen King
Joe Hill
Starring
Music byMark Korven
CinematographyCraig Wrobleski
Edited byMichele Conroy
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • September 20, 2019 (2019-09-20) (Fantastic Fest)[2]
  • October 4, 2019 (2019-10-04) (Netflix)
Running time
  • 90 minutes[2][1]
  • 101 minutes (Extended version)[3]
CountryCanada[1]
LanguageEnglish

The project was in initial development in early 2015 but failed to start. Then, in May 2018, the video streaming site Netflix announced that it had purchased the film rights with Natali as director, who also wrote the adapted screenplay. Principal photography was expected to begin on July 30, 2018 lasting until Sept. 14, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario.

The film had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on Sept. 20, 2019, and was later released on Oct. 4, 2019, by Netflix. It received mixed reviews from critics, with many praising the performances, atmosphere and faithfulness to the novel, but criticizing its inconsistent tone and dialogue.

Plot

Siblings Becky, 6 months pregnant, and Cal DeMuth travel to San Diego so Becky can live with her aunt. While stopped outside an old church, the pair hear a young boy named Tobin call for help from a nearby field of tall grass. They later hear his mother, Natalie, begging him not to call for anyone. Concerned, the pair enters but quickly gets separated and finds that their distance from one another changes unnaturally. Increasingly panicked, the pair decides to leave but are unable to locate the road. Night falls, and Cal stumbles across a bruised and dirty Tobin holding a dead crow. Tobin claims the grass won't move dead things and buries the bird in the path. Becky encounters Tobin's father, Ross, but they get separated in the grass. Tobin leads Cal to an ancient rock in the field and encourages him to touch it, but they are interrupted by Becky's scream as she is attacked by an unseen figure.

Meanwhile, the father of Becky's child, Travis, arrives looking for her and Cal. He finds their car parked outside the church and investigates the field of grass, eventually stumbling across Tobin, who implies that they already know each other, leading him to Becky's rotting corpse. As Travis grieves, he loses sight of Tobin. The next morning, he takes a necklace out of the corpse's pocket. At the same time, a seemingly earlier version of Tobin arrives at the church with Natalie and Ross. Hearing Travis, who is now calling out to Tobin, their dog Freddy runs into the grass, and the family runs in after him, where Travis hears Tobin and looks for him. The family panics and scatters, with Ross stumbling across the rock and touching it as night falls. Morning comes and shows Becky and Cal re-entering the grass as they investigate Tobin's cries. Tobin states that Freddy was killed. Knowing that the grass does not move dead things, Travis instructs Becky and Cal to move toward Tobin, and all four find each other. Travis tells Becky and Cal that they had been missing for two months.

The group spots a building in the distance and walks to it. On the way, Becky receives a phone call from someone sounding very distressed, warning them not to keep making the same mistake. As they walk, the grass seemingly enters Becky's uterus, and she passes out, only to be revived by Ross, who then reunites with Tobin and says he'll show them out. Ross leads them to the rock where they are confronted by a startled Natalie who claims she saw Becky's corpse earlier. She then warns them not to touch the rock. Ross gets more agitated, Natalie warns he's dangerous, and the others decide they want to leave. Ross breaks Travis’s arm and crushes Natalie’s head with his bare hands, before pursuing the others, claiming the rock showed him the truth and the way out, but that he doesn't want to leave.

Becky, Cal, Travis, and Tobin reach the abandoned building, and while scouting, Travis and Cal discover that Freddy has managed to escape the field via a "hole" that leads to the road. A jealous Cal, who is implied to have incestuous feelings for Becky, lets go of Travis as he slips, causing him to fall off the roof. Tobin witnesses this and flees into the field when Ross follows them to the roof. The two follow Tobin, but Becky refuses to leave Travis and goes back as Cal flees, Cal is strangled to death by Ross, and it is revealed they are in a time loop, with Cal permanently being hunted by an insane, possessed Ross in the grass. Travis has survived the fall and goes searching for Becky. They can hear each other on opposite sides of the field, and Becky admits she was going to give up the baby for adoption.

Becky is attacked by Ross but escapes after stabbing him in the eye, and a thunderstorm begins. Becky is confronted by Grass Creatures, who carry her to the rock, which has prophetic markings relating to Becky's pregnancy. Becky frantically makes a phone call, pleading for her past self to prevent Cal from hurting Travis. As she suddenly begins to give birth, the ground underneath the rock opens up, revealing multiple roots that turn into humanoid figures reaching out towards her. She then passes out, later waking up to find Cal caring for her and feeding her with what is revealed to be her baby. Becky slowly realizes that she was hallucinating "Cal," who is revealed to be Ross. Moments later, Travis stumbles across Becky's unconscious body. Tobin finds him, and they are confronted by Ross, who mortally wounds Travis. As Ross tries to make Tobin touch the rock, Becky attacks Ross and scratches out his other eye with her necklace, before dying from her wounds. Travis kills Ross and then realizes the only way to understand the grass is to touch the rock. Travis touches the rock and sees a series of strange visions. He then grabs Tobin's hand and guides him through the grass to an exit, instructing him to stop Becky and Cal from entering the grass.

Tobin emerges in the church across the road just as Becky and Cal are about to enter the grass and convinces them to stay out by showing them Becky's necklace that Travis gave him, hence closing the loop. Becky decides to keep her baby as they drive back home. Travis listens to them leave and dies peacefully in the grass.

Cast

Production

Development

Director Vincenzo Natali wanted to do a film adaptation of In the Tall Grass as early as 2015 when he announced:

Who would think that grass could be frightening? Trust Stephen King and Joe Hill to find a way. They have transformed an otherwise innocuous Kansas field into a stage for some of the most disturbing horror fiction I have ever read."[4]

On May 7, 2018, it was announced that Netflix was producing an adaptation of Stephen King and Joe Hill's short story In the Tall Grass. Natali was hired to write and direct, with Steve Hoban, Jimmy Miller, and M. Riley producing.[5][6][7]

On May 28, 2018, Natali announced that manga artist Shintaro Kago would be the concept art designer for the film adaption.[8]

Casting

Alongside the initial production announcement, it was stated that James Marsden was in negotiations for the film's lead role.[5] On August 7, 2018, it was announced that Marsden had bowed out of the film due to scheduling conflicts and been replaced with Patrick Wilson. Additionally, it was reported that Laysla De Oliveira, Harrison Gilbertson, Avery Whitted, Rachel Wilson, and Will Buie Jr. had also joined the cast.[9][10]

Filming

Principal photography was expected to begin on July 30, 2018, and last until September 14, 2018, in Toronto, Ontario.[11] On July 24, 2018, it was reported that a dilapidated church set had been constructed for the film on a rural road in Perth South, Ontario.[12] On September 20, 2018, filming took place outside of a bowling alley in Elmira, Ontario.[13]

Release

The film had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 20, 2019. On October 4, 2019, the film was available to stream on Netflix.[14]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 36%, based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 5.16/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "A potentially intriguing premise is rapidly lost in the weeds during In the Tall Grass which struggles to stretch its slim source material to feature length."[15] On Metacritic, the film has an aggregated score of 46 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16]

gollark: I think I'm somewhat safer than average due to running my phone without Google services and carefully monitoring apps' location use, but the phone network also leaks location data horribly.
gollark: t!profile
gollark: What level?
gollark: More "let us exchange our preferred one-sentence retorts against [OUTGROUP OPINIONS]" than anything which is actually likely to lead to anything good.
gollark: Internet arguments appear to mostly be terrible.

References
  1. "In the Tall Grass [programme note]". Vancouver International Film Festival. 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  2. "In the Tall Grass". Fantastic Fest. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  3. https://www.netflix.com/title/80237905
  4. Evangelista, Chris (May 8, 2018). "Stephen King Adaption 'In The Tall Grass' Headed to Netflix". /Film. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
  5. Fleming Jr, Mike (May 8, 2018). "Netflix Lands Stephen King & Joe Hill Novella 'In The Tall Grass' With James Marsden, Helmer Vincenzo Natali". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  6. McNary, Dave (May 8, 2018). "Netflix Nabs Rights to Stephen King-Joe Hill's 'In the Tall Grass'". Variety. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  7. Chitwood, Adam (May 8, 2018). "Netflix Lands Stephen King Adaptation 'In the Tall Grass' with James Marsden". Collider. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  8. Ressler, Karen (May 28, 2018). "Manga Artist Shintaro Kago Designs for Film Adaptation of Stephen King, Joe Hill's In the Tall Grass". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  9. Fleming Jr, Mike (August 7, 2018). "Patrick Wilson, Laysla De Oliveira, Harrison Gilbertson Star In Netflix Stephen King/Joe Hill Novella 'In The Tall Grass'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  10. Vlessing, Etan (August 7, 2018). "Patrick Wilson, Laysla De Oliveira, Harrison Gilbertson Join Stephen King's 'In the Tall Grass'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  11. "What's Shooting? | ACTRA Toronto". ACTRA Toronto. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  12. Bridge, Terry (July 24, 2018). "Field of screams? Stephen King movie set rises near Stratford". The London Free Press. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  13. Reiner, Veronica (September 20, 2018). "Elmira Bowl transformed to serve as set for film shoot - ObserverXtra". ObserverXtra. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  14. Couch, Aaron (July 30, 2019). "Taika Waititi's 'Jojo Rabbit' to Premiere at Fantastic Fest". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  15. "In the Tall Grass (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  16. "In the Tall Grass Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
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