Review by
Sue Finn
Directed by: Grant McPhee
Starring: Sorcha Groundsell, Victoria Liddelle
Opening with an inordinately long scene of a young woman perusing artistic
photographs in an exhibition, and then becoming inexplicably obsessed with
one of them, this movie lets you know from the outset that it does not
intend following a regular narrative.
After the exhibition scene, the young protagonist then spends a good amount of time on her computer watching videos of the artist and her work,
which is as interesting as it sounds.
The artist requests a coffee shop meeting, and our ingénue, Judith (Sorcha Groundsell), brings along her portfolio, assuming it is for a job. Apparently
things are not that black and white though as the artist spends the time
insulting her work, but then follows this up with an offer that she wants
Judith to agree to without hearing what the offer is. Of course, she
accepts.
It seems the artist, Roberta (Victoria Liddelle), wants Judith to
take up a residency at her estate, and archive her entire body of work.
This would lead to a big solo show and connections for our young
protagonist.
Once there however, things are trippy and uncomfortable. She is plagued
with sweaty hallucinatory dreams and grows reclusive and haunted.
Meanwhile, the artist seems both predatory and manipulative, all behind a
mask of calm passive aggression. She is listed online as an occult artist,
but what that actually means is yet to be revealed.
She tells Judith that her daughter Maddie (also Groundsell) looks just
like her, but that they are estranged. This is shared in between the
artist’s bragging about how ‘beautiful’, ‘healing’ and ‘inspiring’ her
large abode is.
The young woman becomes obsessed with footage and artworks featuring
Maddie, and Roberta encourages this obsession, dropping subtle comparisons
that Judith could never live up to. “She has something you don’t”, Roberta
says to Judith about her absent daughter.
Meanwhile Judith’s best friend Anne-Marie is warning her off Roberta,
claiming “she’s lying to you” over broken connections on failing phone
lines. But Judith becomes swallowed up by Roberta’s world and before you
can say ‘trapped’, things have gotten hairy for her. Can she save herself
before she’s lost for good?
This Scottish feature from director Grant McPhee is incredibly slow
and studied. It feels like a thin idea eked out over dreamy sequences and
trippy imagery, which can come off as self-indulgent and often does here.
The use of various film formats and fragmented footage didn’t work for me,
and though I have very much enjoyed films that have used similar
techniques (such as both versions of Suspiria), this story (by writer Ben Soper) and atmosphere just wasn’t
strong enough to support the experimental elements, or maintain my
interest. I felt no tension and the finale had been telegraphed from the
beginning so it felt quite long, though only and hour and a half.
On the plus side, the acting is faultless, with Groundsell playing dual
parts and acing the complex differences and struggles experienced by both.
She is surrounded by a small but strong cast, with Liddelle bringing less
nuance to a still powerful performance.
The mansion where this was filmed was suitably impressive and I enjoyed
the use of photography as the characters' form of artistic expression.
This film isn’t for me; it feels lacking in many ways, but I don’t doubt
there is an audience for this out there.
I hope they find it.
Far From the Apple Tree is
available for rent on
Redemption TV.
