THE FARM Review – Factory Farming Torture? More Like Factory Farming Snore-ture!
Starring Nora Yessayan, Alec Gaylord, Ken Volok
Written by Hans Stjernswärd
Directed by Hans Stjernswärd
The concept behind The Farm is interesting right off the bat. Take a bunch of crazies, have them kidnap some people, and put them through the same sort of cruelty that animals have to go through in factory farming. This sets up an interesting dynamic that (when the film does explore it), it’s quite intense and uncomfortable. However, The Farm is a lackluster effort; besides some brutal and gross scenes, the story is dull.
The Farm‘s plot is straight forward. Our two protagonists are kidnapped and must survive and escape the crazies. One of the movie’s biggest issues is that there is little reason to care for these main characters. Their personalities lack any depth, and they really aren’t that likable.
There are heavy The Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes from the beginning; everything from the environment, to the crazy cannibals screams Texas Chainsaw. That said, The Farm doesn’t come close to emitting that same sense of tension or anxiety in its first act. The story suffers at first due to pacing issues, with nothing of significance taking place in the beginning.
That said, The Farm’s second act is much more satisfying. Act two focuses on the factory farm-like torture that the protagonists (among other characters), are put through. The barbaric treatment they have to endure is grueling, presenting an ominous tone to the film. That same imagery also offers multiple scenes that are quite grotesque and shocking.
However, The Farm’s story doesn’t development and becomes bland. There’s still no reason to care for these characters, and the antagonists end up becoming just as much of a bore. While the horrific actions taking place are a clear analogy for factory farming brutality, the antagonists themselves are just mindless slashers. After playing out to a few of those brutal scenes, the film focuses on one of our main characters attempting to escape. This period becomes dragged out with very little taking place in regard to gore or story. The movie losses most of its grip with the grueling imagery, and meanders about with minimal moments of tension.
Overall there just isn’t enough to care about throughout the movie; while the violence works for part of The Farm, it eventually loses all its traction, grinding to a halt in its third act. The Farm is one of those films where its main idea has immense potential. Unfortunately, while the picture has some stellar moments of gross violence, it ultimately fails in keeping viewers engaged.
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The Farm
Summary
While it has a fascinating premise, The Farm turns out to be a bore, offering little more than bits of gruesome imagery.
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