God's Country Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.5

God's Country Blu-ray Movie Review

Hell in, uh, Montana.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 1, 2023

It's tough to think of any recent film that squanders its potential more than Julian Higgins' God's Country, a beautifully shot and meditative drama that's all but totally held back from greatness -- or even goodness -- by its preachy script and shockingly uneven storytelling. If you can finish this 102-minute slow-burn and not pinpoint the exact moment when things start to fall apart, you might be trapped in the same ideological vacuum as its main character.

Said sad sack is Sandra Guidry (Thandiwe Newton), a former New Orleans police officer-turned-professor who relocated to Montana for a university teaching position. She's just lost her mother so Sandra's empty house, nestled in a canyon near prime hunting territory, serves as a microcosm for her life since she feels utterly alone as the school's only black faculty member. Trouble sets in one morning when Sandra sees a red pickup truck on her property, one that belongs to two hunters (Joris Jarsky and Jefferson White) who'd rather take a shortcut than hike 15 miles to the next entry point. Taking their alpha-male dominance personally, Sandra politely asks them to leave, is ignored and, after a beta-male response from the town's acting sheriff (Jeremy Bobb), decides to take matters into her own hands.

Or at least that's what God's Country teases during its first act: a generic but workable cat-and-mouse thriller with the more meditative tone of a slow-burn Western. Instead, what we get is the less interesting version of a film that might have been made if Taylor Sheridan was a far-left progressive. After its admittedly promising setup, God's Country loses all sense of direction, ignoring most of its central plot in favor of a few non-interesting detours that either don't register or are so loaded with preachy politics that only those who don't fully agree with its laughably out of place (and woefully miscast) main character will be immediately turned off. Simply put, the film's second half is a true test of patience and its final act makes the rookie mistake of going all-in on their escalating rivalry, relying on over-the-top theatrics to sell a calculated act of revenge that feels shockingly out of character for a supposed former police officer.

Director Julian Higgins is working from an adaptation of James Lee Burke's short story Winter Light, which Higgins also made into a short film in 2015 that's sadly not included on this Blu-ray. The source material's protagonist is a tall, 58 year-old divorced white male, forced into an early retirement by closed-minded colleagues, whose sudden and ongoing rivalry with a pair of trespassing hunters slowly consumes him before mercifully ending on a cliffhanger. God's Country removes almost every ounce of subtlety from Burke's short story, crams heavy-handed liberal/gender politics into every available orifice, and seals it shut with the unsteady hands of an amateur tailor. Almost every other aspect of the film's production -- cinematography, music, visual effects -- has been treated with care, except for the story they're intended to support. The result a painfully misguided adaptation that starts off well enough but eventually self-destructs, leaving barely half of a good movie in its wake. In all honesty, you're better off reading the original short story; it's not perfect in its own right, but is a marked improvement and will take only about 20 minutes of your time.

Another frustrating element of God's Country is that IFC Films' Blu-ray is likewise more impressive than the film itself. In addition to a solid A/V presentation we're also treated to a well-rounded mixture of good-to-great extras (including two audio commentaries), elevating an otherwise total dud to modest heights. It's still only worth buying if you've already seen and enjoyed the film; otherwise, this is the textbook definition of "your mileage may vary".

God's Country Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

God's Country is nothing if not a very unique-looking film, one with an extremely muted and low-contrast image that's dominated by focus pulls and careful framing to great effect. (I dare say it's the best part of the viewing experience.) Thankfully its distinct visual footprint has made a pretty successful transition to Blu-ray thanks to IFC Films' 1.85:1 transfer. Fine details are somewhat soft but ever-present -- when in focus, at least -- and the same goes for textures, with overall excellent stability and smooth contrast levels that give almost everything a heightened level of importance. Black levels are somewhat tricky, though: it's clear that God's Country is not concerned with deep blacks, possibly by design, but this unavoidably tends to play havoc with shadow details and other darker elements, flattening the image considerably. Normally this would be fine if not for the presence of stray compression artifacts and banding, neither of which occur with any regularity but keep this transfer from reaching even greater heights. Nonetheless, it's a quality effort that earns passing marks, though I'd imagine this film would have been something to see in 4K.

God's Country Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

No similar qualms exist with the film's excellent DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, which carries a necessary amount of weight to support God's Country's considerable quiet-loud dynamic through snowy, wind-swept landscapes, raging fires, quiet interiors, atonal moments of heightened suspense, intense arguments, quiet reflection, and just about everything in-between. Dialogue is clean and crisp throughout, mostly staying put in the center channels, though more crowded and larger locations often make use of discrete left/right channels and, of course, the surrounds for echo delays. As with almost every other aspect of God's Country, it's obvious that a great deal of care was put into this sound mix and, short of a full-fledged Dolby Atmos track or 7.1 remix, there's precious little room for improvement here.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature, as is a Descriptive Audio track.

God's Country Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and a promotional insert. Surprisingly, the bonus features are plentiful and well-rounded, albeit heavy on director input.

• Audio Commentary #1 - This group track features screenwriter Shaye Ogbonna, producer Amanda Marshall, and writer-director Julian Higgins. It's a pretty well-organized track that includes Higgins' first introduction to the source story, his adaptation's (unfortunate) political roots, screenwriter collaboration, location scouting, casting, VFX, the original score, gender dynamics, and more. It's decent enough from a surface-level perspective, but unfortunately one of those tracks where no mistakes were made and the movie was perfect.

• Audio Commentary #2 - A second commentary, obviously more visually based, pairs up cinematographer Andrew Wheeler with writer-director Julian Higgins. It's a little less accessible than the first track but ultimately more worthwhile for obvious reasons, not the least of which is that it talks about more specific fundamentals like lighting, framing, color, and visual design, just a few things that the film admittedly does pretty well.

• Deleted Scenes (12:15) - Nine or so deleted and extended scenes -- oddly enough, divided into just two chapters -- are presented here in finished form with a few bookending clips; they're mostly dialogue-free and feature optional audio commentary by editor Justin LaForge and writer-director Julian Higgins.

• VFX Breakdown (6:20) - This series of before-and-after shots, most of which were used to serve the story rather than add unnecessary flash, features comments from VFX producer Cooper Vacheron and yep, you guessed it, writer-director Julian Higgins. It's good work and makes this run-through worth a look.

• The Original Score (6:34) - Composer DeAndre James Allen-Toole, despite having a name long enough for two, gets this featurette all to himself. In it, he offers comments about his musical contributions as well as a few temp tracks recorded over unfinished film clips that he created for a successful grant application.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:44) - This spoiler-heavy promotional piece is also available here.

God's Country Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Julian Higgins' God's Country starts off well enough, but devolves into such a misguided and preachy endeavor that most of its good graces are rendered forgettable. It's an inferior, desperately uneven adaptation of workable source material, bogged down by the type of storytelling habits and soapbox pandering that most new directors are (hopefully) able to grow out of. This is doubly frustrating because many of the film's other fundamentals -- cinematography, music, visual effects -- are quite polished, and IFC's Blu-ray is likewise a well put-together home video package. For obvious reasons, God's Country isn't a recommended blind buy but established fans will certainly enjoy it.