Harvest Review (Glasgow Film Festival 2025)

Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest, with its atmospheric period setting and lambasting views on capitalism, somewhat reminds this critic of William McGregor’s underrated gem Gwen. Unfortunately, where Gwen was suspenseful and engrossed in its characters, Harvest is more aimless than mysterious. There isn’t much to reap.

Based on Jim Crane’s novel of the same name, Harvest is set in a remote 18th century English village – although, from the Scottish accents, you’d be forgiven for believing this was set during the Highland Clearances. Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones) is a meek but inquisitive man with close ties to the village leader, Charles Kent (Harry Melling). The villagers are an isolated, but close-knit community, which makes the presence of a chart maker (Arinze Kene), hired by Kent to map the village, an uneasy development.

When their stables burn down, the villagers are quick to blame three strangers who happen to be nearby. This sets off a chain of events in which the villagers find their lives increasingly disrupted. First, one of the strangers appears to curse their land, and then a landowner (Frank Dillane) arrives to sell the land the villagers live on for his own capitalist ends.

While it’s not explicitly clear when or where the story is set, despite the synopsis, the central themes are nonetheless universal. Although the villagers engage in isolationist practices to a fault, they still have a strong dynamic as each villager works to serve the collective whole of the settlement. Their connection with their rural surroundings is admirable, and watching their comradery gradually be eroded and pushed out by the whims of wealthy landowners is harrowing. The film serves as a scathing takedown on capitalist apathy, especially when it comes at the expense of the proletariat like the villagers. It laments the cost of modernisation through its portrayal of remote but close communities.

Tsangari and her team appear to incorporate a number of horror film influences into their aesthetic, the most apparent parallel being The Wicker Man. Strange but colourful costumes populate the picture, their various festivals and nights of entertainment bringing the community together while still looking rather off-kilter to an outsider’s eyes. That the footage has a grainy quality to the cinematography, right down to the inclusion of artificial dirt around the frame. It’s an interesting touch that adds a level of grit to the film, although it does make the occasional switch to clean, digital imagery, seen in overhead and long shots, quite jarring.

Yet, in juggling such a sizable ensemble of characters and plot events, the film feels lacking in focus. Perhaps it’s being accurate to its source material, but it often appears like several stories happening simultaneously rather than one streamlined whole. Its themes on the erasure of communities and the devastation of capitalism are welcomed, but messily executed. Interesting characters like the cotequish Kitty or the blunt John (played by Rosy McEwan of Blue Jean and Neil Leipar of Beats respectively) often come in and out of the story, despite their proximity to Walter and their investment in the central conflict. That the film ends up concluding on a dire note is perhaps the point, but it doesn’t feel earned as so many components are being weaved together that the film struggles to keep track of them all.

Caleb Landry Jones is a skilled actor who’s evidently unafraid to take on unorthodox roles. His work here is solid, as he balances curiosity with silent, reluctant compliance as the community he cares about starts to collapse. It’s a pity that Walter is far too passive of a protagonist. This is somewhat by design, as an injury he sustained during the stable burnings at the start of the film puts him out of commission. But because his role in the story is so inactive, with events transpiring around him with minimal influence on his part, it makes one wonder why he is the protagonist. Where Melling’s Kent has a character arc based around subservience, and thus is compelling in his cowardice, Walter has an arc so indiscernible that it’s difficult to understand why his viewpoint was the most beneficial one for a story of this calibre.

Harvest does contain samplings of appeal – it’s often atmospheric and its themes are thought-provoking and timely. But it’s a case of individual strengths that add up to an undercooked whole. With inconsistent craftsmanship and a protagonist who lacks any sense of agency, its otherwise admirable ambitions sadly go unrealised.

★★

Part of 2025 Glasgow Film Festival  2nd & 3rd March| In UK cinemas on 18th April / Caleb Landry Jones, Harry Melling, Arinze Kene, Rose McEwan, Frank Dillane / Dir: Rachel Tsangari / MUBI / 15