Film Review: "In the Tall Grass" (2019).

"Based on the novella by Stephen King and Joe Hill" comes In the Tall Grass. This Canadian supernatural horror drama film adapted and directed by Vincenzo Natali, and based on Stephen King and Joe Hill's 2012 novella of the same name. After hearing a boy's cry for help, a pregnant woman and her brother wade into a vast field of grass, only to discover there may be no way out.

In early May 2018, it was announced that Netflix was producing a new adaptation of King and Hill's novella, with Vincenzo Natali hired to pen and direct the adaptation. Alongside the initial production announcement, it was confirmed that James Marsden was set to star. However, in early August, it was announced that Marsden had bowed out of the film due to scheduling conflicts and been replaced with Patrick Wilson. By late July, Rachel Wilson, Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, and Will Buie Jr. rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and took place throughout Ontario, Canada.

The film stars Wilson, Wilson, Gilbertson, De Oliveira, Whitted, and Buie Jr. The cast did an outstanding job on the cinematic equivalent of a claustrophobic stage. Everyone has his or her own theory about who is behind this peculiar imprisonment. In addition, the six trapped characters' warps become their worst enemies.

In the Tall Grass sometimes struggles with where to take its intriguing premise, but gripping pace and an impressive intelligence make it hard to turn away. The story in question proves surprisingly gripping, in the best Twilight Zone tradition. The weakness in Cube is the dialogue, which sometimes turns remarkably trite. If Natali were as comfortable with more dialogue and dramatization of his  characters as he is with images, the film might have worked better. However, the strength is the film's understated but real tension. Natali, the film's director and writer, has delivered an allegory, too, about futility, about the necessity and certain betrayal of trust, about human beings who do not for a second have the luxury of doing nothing. Shoddy acting and a semi-weak script can't hold this movie back. It's simply too good a premise and too well-directed to let minor hindrances derail its creepy premise. Too many low-budget sci-fi films try for epic scope and fail; this one concentrates on making the best of what it's got and does it well. Natali's handling of mood and pace leave the film one of the tightest horror-thrillers of the year. With its enigmatic and simple premise, this works best as a series of nerve-stretching suspense sequences as the characters try to get past the killing traps. Claustrophic and taut right up until the aforementioned pseudo-limp ending, it makes a great rental for edge of your seat madness. If you have an innate fear of being trapped in an elevator, either alone or with a group of panicky, talky people, you'll appreciate the kind of tension that Natali tries to work up in his horror thriller.

Simon says In the Tall Grass receives: