God’s Country

Directed by Julian Higgins

★★★★

Forgoing the trappings of a by the numbers thriller, God’s Country proves a showcase vehicle for star Thandie Newton.

It’s a cold and dreary Montana mountain scape, painted with grays and cool blue. Immediately we know we are not in a Terrance Malik film with flowing lush landscapes, but rather, a damning and unfriendly endless pitfall. These lands are not to be enjoyed but to be endured, which is elevated by a sometimes claustrophobic or stalking cinematography style.

The film drudges through the types of characters Newton’s Sandra encounters. These are not the friendly, small town folk, mind you, but ones who wear tragedy and prejudice on their sleeves. And Sandra is hyper-aware of this, characterizing every look or glance she doles out.

God’s Country is a slow burn, that has random and chaotic bursts of energy, keeping the viewer on edge throughout. The film uses deer being hunted as a metaphor for how Sandra feels as a black woman in a white dominated section of America. And it’s obvious from Newton’s untrusting performance, that this hasn’t only been an effect in her life since she moved to Montana.

Newton is a force of nature throughout the runtime, giving a subdued but determined performance as a woman who has had enough. Sandra doesn’t always make the right decision, and the film mostly holds her accountable for her mistakes. Yet, she is unequivocally on a search for what she seems just in her eyes. For better or worse.

While the film can be a little bit of a drag at times, it is a behemoth of a character study and really allows Thandie Newton to shine from the beginning shot to a closing one that still sits in the back of my mind.

Don’t Worry Darling

Blonde