The Harvest is John McNaughton’s return to the director’s chair after a lengthy absence. Oh what a triumphant return it is. It’s a movie that shouldn’t work but thanks to McNaughton’s skill, and some stunning performances, it does.
Maryann (Natasha Calis) is a recently orphaned pre-teen that just moved in with her grandparents. Already having to deal with the loss of her parents she must now get used to a new environment, new school and attempt to make new friends. Exploring the neighborhood one day she sees Andy (Charlie Tahan), a boy of similar age laying in his bedroom playing Xbox. Maryann knocks on the boy’s window and introduces herself.
Maryann and Andy play Xbox until Andy’s mother, Dr. Katherine Young (Samantha Morton), comes home to find them. She promptly asks Maryann to leave. Katherine is very controlling. She claims Andy is dying and no one can be around him. She even goes through the trouble of visiting Maryann’s grandparents to see to it that Maryann doesn’t come around anymore.
Maryann chooses to ignore Katherine’s request and keeps coming around. Eventually she uncovers some seriously dark secrets being kept by both Katherine and her husband, Richard (Michael Shannon).
The Harvest absolutely shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t be a good movie. The overall premise is quite silly and it goes pretty far over the top in my opinion. This story could easily make for a Lifetime movie. In fact there has probably been Lifetime movies that are very similar to this. A Lifetime exec should be getting McNaughton on the phone right now. If they had him direct all their movies they’d have a bunch of hits on their hands. Come on, Lifetime, get in together!
What lifts The Harvest up and makes it a genuinely creepy and eerie family drama are the performances. Everyone is so damn sincere and earnest. Aside from Peter Fonda, who seemed to only be present to say “far out” and offer strange life advice to his granddaughter, every actor plays the movie completely straight. They treat the material very seriously. This makes it easy for the audience to buy in and enjoy the ride.
Morton in particular is incredible. Her performance reaches so many different peaks of crazy. She’s very frightening at times. Every moment she spends on screen has you nervous because you have no idea what she may do. Morton’s Katherine could give Annie Wilkes a run for her money.
Then you have Shannon in a role that is very different from what I’m accustomed to seeing him in. His portrayal of Richard is at the complete opposite spectrum of Morton. While Morton took things far over the top, Shannon is much more reserved and subtle. Richard is compassionate and tries desperately to remain level headed while Katherine is bonkers from the start. They’re the perfect balance for one another.
If I had one issue with The Harvest, aside from Fonda just being weird, it’s that Maryann doesn’t seem all too bothered by the fact that both her parents died. We never really find out what happened to the parents and it’s not discussed much, but we know it happened very recently because Maryann is just moving in with her grandparents. The grandparents seemed to be much more impacted by the loss. In fact the one good moment with Fonda, and it’s actually quite the sad moment, is when Maryann finds her father’s old baseball gloves in the attic. Ole grandpa Fonda thinks Maryann wants to play catch with him. When he finds out she wants to play with a friend he looks pretty crushed. This is actually a sweet moment. Other this though, Fonda is misused. And Maryann still doesn’t seem too phased by her parents being gone.
The Harvest isn’t a movie everyone will enjoy. The key is buying into what McNaughton and crew are selling early. If you do that you can follow along and enjoy the movie right up to the chilling conclusion.
The Harvest is available now on Blu-ray from IFC Midnight and Scream Factory.
