The Levelling
The Levelling
| 12 May 2017 (USA)
The Levelling Trailers

Clover is finishing a veterinary course when her brother dies and she is called home to her family's struggling Somerset farm.

Reviews
WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Supelice Dreadfully Boring
Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?
Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
CineviewUK There isn't even the slightest hint of a reason for the audience to invest any emotional or even intellectual empathy with any of the characters in this movie. There's no drama.. no investment at all - in fact watching it I found myself desperately trying to convince myself not to turn it off as "Something has GOT to happen soon???".The opening shots of the film give you a clue as to what is to come... two establishing shots of a farm in the middle of nowhere that seem to last for 10 minutes (ok I exaggerate - but it feels like that!).. a montage of some naked guys doing something (???!!!).. no information about them is communicated at all. I guess we're supposed to assume her brother was drunk at this (unexplained) beach party??!! I have no idea!! It's so boring after that.. I just wish the naked guys had shown up again and at least put some life into it! If you enjoy watching an actress do her best when essentially she has nothing to do, wonder around a farm picking up shit and cleaning, while finding dead badgers then this film is for you! If you LOVE caravans.. then oh jeez this will be a treat!!!!! Otherwise.. don't spend money on it.
westsideschl 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.
jonathan-harris17 A young woman (Kendrick) returns to the family farm after many years, due to tragedy -- her lone brother's apparent suicide -- and grapples with a difficult situation and a combative relationship with her father.A very British film to me: fine performances from both Kendrick and Troughton both controlled and realistically playing their parts, moody well-shot rural scenes providing some atmosphere to the bleak world: yet also one exhaustively dour, thin on plot, drama.It's clearly sincere in the portrayal of the realities of modern farming and rural life, which may well be it's main drive alongside the similar-yet-different father\daughter relationship, but this left me cold.
euroGary 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.
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