God’s Country, 2022.
Directed by Julian Higgins.
Starring Thandiwe Newton, Jefferson White, Tanaya Beatty, Jeremy Bobb, Kai Lennox, Joris Jarsky, Gabriel Clark, Phaedra Nielson, and Karen Jean Olds.
SYNOPSIS:
When a college professor confronts two hunters she catches trespassing on her property, she’s drawn into an escalating battle of wills with catastrophic consequences.
One would think that living in mountainous sequestration would make for a peaceful existence. For Sandra (a powerhouse performance from Thandiwe Newton that, by the climax of God’s Country, ascends to next-level greatness), conflict keeps coming toward her, but this small community deals with issues far different from a place like her hometown of New Orleans.
For starters, there are only two sheriffs nearby, and while the population is relatively small, they do have a vast range of land to cover. There’s also not much acting sheriff Gus (Jeremy Bobb) can do about the situation of hunters (Joris Jarsky and Jefferson White) parking their truck near Sandra’s home and making thinly veiled threats whenever she politely suggests alternatives. He confronts the hunters, who want justice for the murderous actions of a former sheriff that ran off to Florida. As a result, director Julian Higgins’ God’s Country (an adaptation of the filmmaker’s short story Winter Light and co-written by Shaye Ogbonna) is on the precipice of a powder keg explosion.
Key details of Sandra’s life are revealed throughout the movie (the script excellently paces out, sprinkling in information to recontextualize what we think of the story and characters so far). From the opening scene, Sandra is grieving a woman that we come to learn is her mom, and by her facial expressions, it’s also clear that this was a strained relationship. During these unfortunate circumstances, she continues to work as a college professor teaching public speaking while educating the students on moving on from loss in finding a way to make necessary changes from within.
Sandra is well respected by her students, with Gretchen (Tanaya Beatty) contemplating taking on additional work as her assistant. At the upper level, there are also meetings to replace a professor, with some members of the board advocating for an opportunity to make an inclusive hire (it’s not lost on the story and characters that Sandra is the only Black woman here for miles), with others (mostly men) brushing off that notion.
Now, I wouldn’t quite blame you if you are lost on what God’s Country is supposed to be getting at, but the pieces connect, exposing more about these characters and juxtaposing them in unexpectedly fascinating ways. There’s a moving scene where, after multiple tense encounters with the hunters, Sandra converses with one of them in a church about their relationships with their mothers. Aside from the organ music, it’s a quiet moment that taps into another layer of tension while also showing that Julian Higgins has no interest in painting his antagonists with broad strokes.
There is also a case of sexual harassment back at the college, pushing Sandra into justified anger. The residents of this snowy frontier depressingly accept things the way they are, no matter how harsh (especially the men who have no interest in sharing any of that power). Even when Sandra encourages her fellow women to take a stand, they are sure that they are okay and that it’s not necessary behind traumatized expressions.
Aside from some on-the-nose symbolism about predators and prey, God’s Country builds its way up to a gut-punch ending that knocks the wind out of one so hard partly because the devastating path that Sandra is on is in sight. It’s a road we don’t necessarily want her to go down, but it’s what she’s being driven to. Thandiwe Newton is synchronized with every step of the character’s agonizing journey and sells the final shot for all it’s worth.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
