The Levelling (2017)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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".

Just horrible. When it comes to the factual... these people should not be allowed around animals. This is no way to run a dairy - or to treat a dog for that matter. Apparently they have never heard about basic biosecurity measures. Their milking parlor is filthy, they don't clean the teats properly, reuse wipes and dip cup, even though it is designed to be dumped/single use, and I shudder to think where the milk goes. Heck, TB is the least of their worries. I have never encountered a dairy that didn't have a plan for the bull calves (even with AI and heifer-select semen you still get about 30% bull calves, you either veal out or sell to become hamburger steers). Since a calf is necessary to milk a cow, you are hoping for a heifer - true - but you take a bull calf. It is not a disaster, nor do you go shooting and burning it. You cannot hide TB, since milk gets tested regularly (for antibiotics, somatic cell count and pathogens like TB). If your whole herd is infected, they have to be destroyed, true enough - but how exactly was the daughter's presence going to ward off a bacterial pathogen, apparently water borne? And why would she give up her future with a possible income-producing job to move back to a sinking ship, especially with a 'father' like that? And shooting infected cows long distance in the field, that is beyond stupid.It is sad when a family or a farm fails, but in this case, it was a nasty family, with no redeeming qualities I can think of, a badly run farm, and they live in a country with a generous social net, or they could get a job. Sh*t happens, life goes on (or not, if you choose suicide). Also, why not burn the badgers? Just makes no sense. On top of that there is nothing to recommend this film, the cinematography is apparently done by cell phone, blurry, jumbled, just plain bad, all the actors are difficult to listen to or look at, and there is no coherent story worth telling. And forget about a score. We turned on CC and the only comment my husband made was: "That's not music", when the subtitles indicated that music was playing. Frankly, I hated that the daughter became infantile and called for 'Daddy' at the end, when the man was a waste of space, who insisted on dragging those around him down. He probably killed his wife too.

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.