Netflix’s In the Tall Grass is an adaptation of Stephen King and his son Joe Hill’s novella of the same name.
The story begins with Cal (Avery Whitted) and Becky (Laysla De Oliveira), two siblings driving through an abandoned town of Route 400, where at one side, there is a creepy old church and the other side of the road a field covered with tall grass.
They heard the cry of a little boy named Tobin, who is begging for help and claims that he is stuck inside the field of tall grass.
Soon Cal jumped into helping the boy, and Becky followed him. The more they are going inside the field, the more grasses they see, and eventually both get lost as the distance grew.
Later, joined them, Travis who is the father of the child, as Becky is six- months pregnant now. Travis encounters Tobin, who tells him that the ‘tall grass knows everything.’ He is lost kid looking for his parents who are too trapped in the field.
This is pretty much the basic story where these tall grasses are the monster and lures people inside the field who never gets out.
Whenever we see a Stephen King adaptation film, we expect to see a weird character, scenes that invoke eerie moments, creepy town and suspenseful atmosphere.
Honestly, I didn’t see or felt either of the one.
Yesterday afternoon, I start watching the film sitting alone on my sofa expecting some horror moments that will give me goosebumps and make me cover my eyes with my hand.
But to my surprise, nothing happened. I understood the story of the film, but it is too confusing. Netflix’s In the Tall Grass, uses ‘time travel’ which creates confusion and makes you think like ‘what’s going on in the movie?’
The moment Patrick Wilson as Tobin’s dad, entered the scene, it felt that something is wrong with this character. Patrick Wilson’s character Ross is a complex character from the beginning.
His first appearance came when he met Becky inside the field and introduced himself as Tobin’s father, and he is too mislaid and searching for his family.
There is too much of weaving back and forth, the loose narrative couldn’t get a hold on the suspense that the story is supposed to have. Nothing is frightening or atmospheric in the movie that I felt as a viewer.
It’s not that I like nothing about the entire film. There are a few scenes that are worth appreciable. You may have noticed or will notice that as Cal and Becky are walking inside the field while following Tobin’s voice, the focus of the camera shifted to the mud and their foot. As time passes, they are getting more sweaty, muddier, and are drawing towards a bloodbath.
The first 10 minutes of Netflix’s ‘In the Tall Grass’ looks like it has a lot of suspense and a thrilling element, but as the characters get lost in the labyrinth, so does the movie.
Now, while watching, you would want to know many things like why does the grass is so evil and behave in a strange manner?
Why does the church is abandoned? What is the story behind it? When Ross (Wilson Patrick) tells the story about the existence of the enormous magical and powerful rock, it doesn’t ring the bell of a real story.
Of course, I know it is supernatural; still when the rock plays a vital role in the story, the background story must be gothic and scarier.
Frankly, when the trailer was out, I thought Netflix is bringing to us another epic Stephen King gothic story, but it is an utter disappointment.
The notion of getting lost in a vast grass field, starving, and with no water, how can these characters survive? That pathos is nowhere to be seen neither in the character nor could the story connect with me (audience).
It was weird how there is a constant feud between Cal and Travis that is being more focused than the surviving instinct and the danger they are surrounded with.
Even I must say, I loved Patrick Wilson as a villain in Aquaman. He was a strong, willful, and strongminded villain character who was equally convincing as Aquaman.
Here, I felt it hard that Patrick’s character Ross isn’t that villainous neither scary as per a horror film point of view.
I didn’t enjoy his performance in Netflix’s In the Tall Grass. Instead, the cute little Tobin has done a marvelous job. He is sharp, innocent, and a gripping character too, at the beginning of the film when he first met Cal.
He gets adorable as the story progresses, trying to help Travis, Becky, and Cal with whatever information about the place he has.
Overall, I have watched several films that are an adaptation of Stephen King and among all In the Tall Grass is a displeasure to watch.