Vincenzo Natali broke onto the horror scene with “Cube,” A high-concept thriller that created a suspenseful sense of claustrophobia amid a sprawling labyrinth of death traps. 22 years later, he brings this same kind of tension to Netflix’s upcoming “In The Tall Grass,” a horror-thriller set solely in a field, expansive yet suffocating.
Based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King and Joe Hill, “In The Tall Grass” begins with a deeply loyal brother-and-sister duo on a fateful road trip. Cal DeMuth (Avery Whitted) simultaneously drives and fusses over his twenty-something sister Becky (Laysla De Oliveira), who is six months pregnant and unsure what to do about that. So, the hangdog duo is on their way to San Francisco to meet with a couple who could adopt the brewing baby Becky’s made with her irresponsible rocker boyfriend Travis (Harrison Gilbertson). But their trip goes off the rails when they happen to pull alongside a vast field of tall grass.
This grass is so thick you can’t see but a few inches beyond its first stalks, and so tall that there’s no looking down into it. So when the panicked voice of a young boy (Will Buie Jr.) erupts from the whispering rushes of wind through the blades, Cal and Becky decide they must go in to help the lost boy out. But once inside, they too become impossibly tangled in this merciless maze of greenery. And they soon discover they are not alone.
This premise might seem a bit thin for a feature film. After all, how scary can being lost in a field be? Yet, Natali gives his natural setting an unsettling surreal mood through production design, sound design, and a bit of CGI. Like “Cube,” the sets look the same. Again and again, our heroes are caught in muddy paths, surrounded by tall vibrant grass; this repetition churns a grimacing tension. The feeling builds that no matter how far our heroes journey, they never advance. Then there’s the feeling that the walls are closing in, as the vibrant blades of grass reach into the path like creeping fingers and the sucking mud snags at their sinking sneakers. You can hear the mud, that soft, gloppy suction as feet plod with effort and awkwardness through its muck. Such sound gives the film a sense of texture. Meanwhile, the buzz of the breeze through the grass gives the unnerving sensation that the blades are alive. Then, a bit of CG gives an extra oomph to this grass that might well spark goosebumps.
There are other spooky bits in store. It begins with a jump—not a jump scare—reveals one of the strange powers of this freaky field. A creepy kid pops up to say cryptic things and introduce the film’s sci-fi McGuffin. Sequences of tangled limbs and snatching arms will bring some more primal scares. And Patrick Wilson—wearing a jaunting Dad ‘stache and a polo shirt—will barge into the field, offering a big smile, plenty of bravado, and a worrisome glint in this eye. Still, for all its spookiness and suspense, “In The Tall Grass” is ultimately underwhelming.
The performances by its cast are mostly grounded and earnest. But the film gives most of them little range of emotion. They are chiefly stricken, occasionally confused, and sometimes sentimental. This lack of dimension spreads from the character development—or lack thereof—to the film itself. Tension brews but never blisters or bursts. The tone is almost doggedly stern, which begins to feel silly when the premise is on its face a bit absurd. But then there’s Patrick Wilson.
A veteran of such heralded horror movies as “Hard Candy,” “The Conjuring,” and “Insidious,” he seems instantly more comfortable in this weird world of whispering weeds. And with this confidence, he brings a welcomed verve to the film along with a sense of spontaneity, like anything could happen with him around. Sadly, the other performances don’t offer anything near this volatile charisma, which keeps the tension from pushing past unnerving to chest-clutchingly scary. And so, “In The Tall Grass” proves a solidly spooky film, seeded with some tantalizing moments of terror. But it never grows to outright terrifying. [B-]
“In The Tall Grass” made its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest. It will hit Netflix on October 4th.