The Levelling (2017)

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Blistering performances.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Overacted, a bit melodramatic - perhaps. Too many holes to fill in the story - seemed incomplete. Worst issue, especially for Canadian, Aussie, American and other English speakers outside of England is that the, at times, poor enunciation coupled with British English along with poor audio level control and then capped off with the cheap decision to not offer subtitles left most of the dialogue incomprehensible. Even when I had audio levels three times higher than usual for a film.

to rhondasmit "Miserable": yes, this farm appears badly run. dead mum, floods, brink of financial ruin, then suicide of heir apparent. god-awful patriarch unable to cope. daughter ran away long ago. i don't think this film was supposed to be a study in good farm management, good animal husbandry, or exemplary familial bonds. rather - it reflects the reality of most people as flawed human beings with mostly flawed coping mechanisms. sorrow, remorse, depression, the daily grind of life's demands ('you get up and milk the cows every morning forever - this is your life') - it's a depressing movie. why would anyone want to live and work on a farm where litter is left lying about and everything is mired in muck. perhaps that's the point. plot devices are moderately rudimentary: make the vegan veterinarian daughter kill the newborn calf "so the mother won't get attached to it" with the same gun (i think) that the brother had used to kill himself - that was just needlessly ham-handed (or beef-handed?) audience manipulation. ending pretty predictable. dad crying, daughter protagonist crying, sky crying on funeral day. acting was OK given unlikable characters. time-line too short for any character growth.so if you want to be thoroughly depressed, watch this film. at least it's honest enough to not offer some crap Disney-esque happy-ever- after only found in fairy tales. the ending leaves a tiny sliver of hope for those so inclined. if you want unrealistic happy 'farminess" - go watch "Babe".

This review of The Levelling is spoiler free**** (4/5)THERE ARE ONLY a handful of directors who have portrayed the true beautiful brutality of a British farmland society, a notable tick to The Witch which had a compelling story about a young witch it also had stunning cinematography - gloomy at times but thanks to this it captivated the beauty of it all. Once released it wouldn't take long for another director to follow in its footsteps. These footsteps are followed by first-time writer-director Hope Dickson Leache, with her film The Levelling a stunningly brutal tale of a young woman who is forced to move back to her old life on a farm due to a hard loss in the family. It's hard to find an actor who can pull this off successfully, Leache found what she was looking for with Ellie Kendrick who plays her female lead, who also carries the film. Kendrick plays Clover Catto a young veterinarian trainee who is forced to live on a farm due to the loss of her younger brother, not too long after the floods of October 2014. As soon as she arrives at the place she hasn't been to in years, she feels a sense of hardship which, until her father Aubrey (David Troughton), arrives. Dealing with him the man who told her to leave, to do what she wants at a young age, she hates him he plagues her with emotional torture and asks her to do work around the farm, this leads her to ask questions about what really happened to her brother. Aubrey calls it an accident; however, Clover isn't so sure, seemingly wanting to play detective searching for evidence around the site, putting her father's grief to the test. There's a heavy sense of guilt to him too, Clover takes this to her advantage and starts to surround him with questions - perhaps leading him to answer her.Given Leache's direction, the film takes this all in hand captivatingly proving strength with its female lead but forgetting one initial detail - the cumulative impact. The Levelling gives us the emotional heft of dealing with death, a sense of place, and deep depression of older family members it's her father that feels the brunt of the grief, he always refers to better time and refuses to show emotion especially when Clover comes to the investigative moment that he may be involved. This is the main flaw.A patchy flaw that's fixed by the film's nigh perfect premise, the flawless performances, the excellent screenplay and Leache's gentle, yet beautiful direction which flows. The Levelling isn't just one of the best debuts of recent years it's one of the best British films of recent years period. VERDICT: Kendrick is fantastic in a toughly heart-warming British directorial debut, that's gently crafted by a pure modest scale of the countryside and a beautifully atmospheric tale.

Immediately before going to see "The Levelling" at the 2016 London Film Festival, I had watched on television "Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages", in which the actress travels around the UK visiting villages and glorying in their thatched cottages, cream teas and lovable eccentricities (Morris dancers, etc). "The Levelling" shows the other side of the rural coin...'Clover' would be a good name for a cow, but dairy farmer Aubrey instead lumbered his unfortunate daughter with the name. As a young adult, Clover leaves the farm to study animal medicine, but just before her final examinations she is forced to return to deal with her brother Harry's suicide, Aubrey's simmering resentment, the farm's precarious financial position and the aftermath of devastating floods.As Clover, Ellie Kendrick (probably best known for "Game of Thrones") delivers a variable performance: Clover's frustration with Aubrey's refusal to take her seriously is well-essayed, but the device of hiccoughing back the first word of a sentence in order to show bewilderment ("What - what do you mean?") grows old very quickly and at times Clover comes across as little more than a stroppy teenager instead of a capable, educated woman. As Aubrey, David Troughton does his best with the kind of antagonistic character he often seems to play, and Jack Holden is perfectly competent in the film's only other major role, that of Harry's friend James. The ultimate revelation of why Harry committed suicide is unlikely to surprise any viewer, and it is all very bleak - both the characters' situation, and the grey and damp farm in which they live. But the film is atmospheric, and if it turns up on television I might watch it again.