Seeds

Jebus....this film. :::sighs and rubs his eyes feeling drained::::   :)

There are these films that are really hard to classify. They aren't standard horror. They have more creep and horror than a plain drama would have, too. But, you can't just toss out, "Hey - like horror? Watch SEEDS" because your more horror mad viewer will get all pissed off and start screaming, "HEY! Where's the BLOOD! And...why am I hearing all this TALKING and GOOD STORY stuff!? What a rip off!" as they go stomping away to watch the new HALLOWEEN film again. :::grin:::

No, this isn't that. It's a tense, visually stunning story with horror elements and some really grim and gripping storytelling backed by a small and amazing cast.

From IMDB:
When his increasingly depraved behavior spirals out of control, Marcus retreats to his family home along the New England coast. But instead of finding solace, Marcus is haunted by his darkest fears and deepest desires.

But, even that sounds too "sexy" for this film. This is an actor and story showcase of darkness and mental illness. It deals with issues that are...what are the kids calling it these days...."triggering" for sure. It's uncomfortable and sad and draining.

And I fucking loved it. :::grin:::

Trevor Long's performance as the lead Marcus Milton is stellar. You can see the emotions racing through him and when he brings things to the surface, it's powerful. There's a struggle of epic proportions running through him and he's struggling through the whole film trying to resolve them. Just fantastic.

Andrea Chen is equally amazing as Lily - Marin's niece.  She's able to walk the line of young adult expertly. At times she seems like a young woman and at other times she seems closer to a little girl. The balancing act makes the overall tension very intense. Some of the scenes between her and Long make the screen crackle with an energy that was wild.

And even child actor Garr Long's (related to Trevor?) performance is super solid. This is key. I've seen films where there is a key child actor playing along with adults and they just come off as distracting. However, Long handles the role wonderfully and maintains the acting levels set by Trevor and Andrea very well.

The story. Whew...the story....

Like if Lovecraft and Kafka got together to write a story about mental illness. Director Owen Long (( SO MANY LONGS LISTED IN THIS MOVIE!!!!  :)  )) and Steven Weisman really nailed the balance between reality and nightmares here. You're bounced between three worlds, really. A lovely dream world of perfection and love, a nightmare world of fear, and the real world where the dream and nightmare worlds come together to caress some and crush others. Whew. And, it's really tough to watch at times, though I found myself not able to look away.

I don't want to say this lightly, but SEEDS is a brilliant film.  Definitely worth a viddy for the brave of heart. Don't expect to be spoon fed here, however. You need to dive in a bit. Get your feet wet. Think. If you don't want to do that, pass on this film.

However, if you like to explore the darkness....give this a go for sure!

 If you enjoyed the film and what it brought to the table on the style and acting fronts, you might want to hunt these films down as well:

REVENGE (Hevn) - 
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2018/08/revenge-hevn.html

FAMILIAR (short film) -
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/07/familiar-made-me-squirm-in-my-chair.html

HEIR (short film) -
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/07/heir-fantastic-body-horror-creep-fest.html

I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE -
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2016/11/i-am-pretty-thing-that-lives-in-house.html

HIERRO (Spain 2009) -
https://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2012/11/hierro-spain-2009.html