Come Morning Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Come Morning Blu-ray Movie Review

Family Ties

Reviewed by Michael Reuben October 4, 2014

Come Morning looks more professional and makes more of an impact than anyone would expect from a film shot for less than $50,000 raised through a Kickstarter campaign. Part of the reason is the inherent production value of the locations outside Kingsland, Arkansas, home town of writer/director (and cinematographer/editor) Derrick Sims, making his feature film debut under the auspices of Fabled Motion Pictures, the company Sims created with his wife, Alaina, who served as producer, set designer and costume designer. The Simses wanted to portray their world accurately, the way they knew it, which they had never before seen on screen. Derrick Sims's determination to convey that world's realistic surface and distinctive emotional texture infuses every frame. In their Blu-ray commentary, the couple notes with amusement that audiences in L.A. found it hard to accept that people like the film's characters really exist. The Simses report this reaction almost with a sense of pride, as if Los Angelenos' disbelief confirms that Come Morning got it right.

An elliptical and mysterious tale that was first suggested to Derrick Sims by boyhood memories of hunting with his grandfather, Come Morning is too odd and challenging a film to have attracted major distribution. After premiering at the Austin Film Festival in October 2012, it played the festival circuit before receiving a limited release in November 2013. It is now the fourth Blu-ray to be issued by specialty distributor Monarch Home Entertainment.

Individual events in Come Morning are straightforward, but the overall pattern is frequently mystifying. The film was whittled down to its currently taut 80 minutes from a much longer version, and Sims discusses the process at length in his commentary. (Some, but not all, of the deleted scenes are included in the extras.) Seen mostly from the perspective of its young protagonist, known only as "D" (the remarkable Thor Wahlestedt), the film accepts many occurrences that might seem strange to an adult with the unblinking stoicism of a child who doesn't question what life throws his way. Sims takes advantage of this perspective to skip over a lot of exposition and background, some of which is supplied as the film unfolds, but some of which remains open and unanswered so that the viewer is left pondering. Anyone who wants a story that wraps up neatly by the time the credits roll will be frustrated by Come Morning. It's a film that is designed to withhold the comforts of closure.

Come Morning opens with a scene of an unidentified woman standing in a river scrubbing items of clothing. From the sun's angle, the time appears to be morning. The sight is visually arresting, and it immediately provokes questions. Who is this woman, and why is she standing in the middle of the river washing out clothes (rather than on the banks)?

Part of the question is shortly answered, because Come Morning has only one female character. The woman's name is Morigan (Elise Rovinsky), and she can be found in the home of D's grandfather, Frank (Michael Ray Davis), whom D calls "Pa-paw". However, Morigan's connection to this old man and his grandson is never clear. Too young to be Pa-paw's wife, too old to be D's sister, too detached to be D's mother, aunt or other blood relation, Morigan abides in Frank's simple cabin as a sad and disapproving presence. On this day in 1973, the focus of her disapproval is the afternoon hunting trip that Frank promised D they would take together. Frank is well aware of Morigan's opinion, but he leaves with D anyway.

What begins as a simple hunting trip becomes a long and grueling night that tests the endurance of both the boy and the old man, as they find themselves thrust into the center of a long-running land dispute among local families. One of the chief combatants is Marion Mitchell (Thomas Moore), whose relatives Jack Finley (Maurice Mejia) and Wes Mitchell (Blake Logan) are also out hunting that afternoon and evening. Jack, in particular, has an explosive temper and no hesitation about using knives and guns against another person.

Even more dangerous is Charlie (Richard Ledbetter), often called "Crazy Charlie", of whom Jack himself is afraid, because, when Charlie finds trespassers on his land, he shoots first. And it just so happens that Jack and Wes are hunting deer on Charlie's land when they encounter Frank and D. By then, however, Frank and D have long since given up their hunting venture, because they are trying to extricate themselves from a predicament involving a long-standing feud over the land claimed by D's father, Jim (Dean Denton), which has repeatedly erupted in violence. Frank will do his best to protect his grandson, but he will also need D's help. In the course of one arduous night, the boy will be forced to do many years' worth of growing up.

Sims uses the starkly beautiful and increasingly threatening Arkansas woods to maximum effect, and the actors braved freezing nighttime conditions that lend authenticity and urgency to their performances. The core of Come Morning remains the close relationship between Frank and his grandson, which is expressed not so much in what they say but in their expressions, their exchanges of looks and the intense devotion that keeps them working together as their circumstances grow increasingly dire.

Come Morning Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sims shot Come Morning himself on a Red One MX digital camera, with post-production completed on a digital intermediate. Sims served as his own colorist, because he couldn't afford to hire one. Monarch's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably sourced from digital files. It's a good image hampered only by a few inherent limitations of the source. In some of the night scenes, the blacks shade off into dark gray, and the contrast isn't as strong as it should be to separate the layers of detail in the dense forest settings. A more experienced colorist might have been able to improve the image further, but much of this goes back to the original night photography. In well-lit daytime scenes, by contrast, detail is impressive. Sims also reveals a flair for expressive framing, e.g., in the opening scene of Morigan in the river. Even if he doesn't continue to act as his own cinematographer, he has already established his credentials as a visual stylist.

Given the locale, the time of year and the fact that so much of Come Morning occurs after the sun has set, few scenes have strong, saturated colors, but a few specific objects and colors are meant to stand out. (The Simses discuss some of this in their commentary.) The Blu-ray reproduces these colors boldly without overemphasis. At an average bitrate of 24.48 Mbps, Come Morning has very good bandwidth for Red-originated footage.

Come Morning Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sims also acted as his own sound designer for Come Morning. Although he says he doesn't think he did a very good job, here too he was constrained by lack of funds. The film has a stereo soundtrack, which is encoded on Blu-ray in Dolby Digital 2.0 at 320 kbps; it isn't lossless, but at least it's an improvement over Dolby's DVD standard of 192 kbps. (On at least one previous Blu-ray, Lebanon, PA, Monarch Home Entertainment encoded the soundtrack in lossless PCM.)

What's here is an effective accompaniment to the film. The dialogue is clear, and the sounds of the surrounding environment provide a suitable atmosphere for the story's events. Perhaps the most important element of the track is the spare and soulful musical accompaniment by Justin Slaughter, who consulted with the director and scored the entire film without ever meeting in person, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Sims and Slaughter were obviously on the same page creatively, though, because Slaughter's instrumentals are entirely consistent with the film's visual texture, and the score contributes immeasurably to the elegiac tone that runs throughout Come Morning.

Come Morning Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Writer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor Derrick Sims and Producer/Production Designer Alaina Sims: The filmmaking couple share a wealth of practical details about casting, production, economies, help from unexpected quarters, thematic elements, festival reactions and the gradual process of paring down the film to its current form. By the end of the commentary, I didn't necessarily agree with every one of Sims's artistic choices as a director, but I was impressed at how carefully considered each one was.



• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 1.78:1; 25:01): This detailed documentary follows the filmmakers through pre-production to the editing process and includes interviews with Derrick Sims, Thor Wahlestedt and Maurice Mejia. Substantial on-location footage is also included.



• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2.35:1): According to the commentary, these are only some of many scenes removed both during the editing process and as the film made the rounds of the festival circuit. In terms of story, probably the most significant is the one entitled "The Burial", which explains Jack's reference to D about killing his dog.
• The Walk (1:08)
• In the Deer House (1:08)
• What About Dad (1:10)
• Coyotes (1:15)
• We're Lost (2:30)
• The Burial (2:55)
• D's Descent (2:29)



• First Look (1080p; 1.78:1; 3:00): This brief promotional piece uses on-location footage from a night shoot to suggest the film's naturalistic texture and noirish subject matter.



• Trailers (1080p; 2.35:1): Trailer 1 gives more plot information, while the shorter Trailer 2 effectively conveys the sense of violence that infuses the entire story.
• 1 (2:30)
• 2 (1:00)

Come Morning Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I question whether the Simses, in their effort to create a kind of Southern fairy tale, may have gone overboard in mystifying the audience, especially in Come Morning's treatment of the character Morigan. Still, Come Morning is a rare achievement, and it lingers in the memory far beyond the closing credits, in large part because it is so mysterious that it prompts viewers to recall moments in their own lives when they first had to confront and accept certain aspects of existence that exceed our comprehension. At its most effective, art makes such moments a shared experience rather than an isolated and lonely one. Highly recommended.