birgit_schuette I really enjoyed this movie! I expected a fantasy movie, which was only a tiny element of this story, so it was a different sort of game than I thought it would be! Overall the mood is very warm and innocent, since it's told through the naive perspective of a little girl. However, the events are kindof dark: family holds a man for ransom in their silo, and their "cover" gets blown when their daughter befriends him, thinking he grants wishes. In the end, her friendship saved the messy situation from becoming much worse. Anyway, and interesting take on a dark tale told through a sunny perspective!

beorhhouse Excellent, strange Dark Fantasy with a great ending and wonderful actors--especially the little girl who is so demonstrative and natural you might think she is really a little farm girl the director found to play the part. There are so many unanswered questions here--gnomic things--and that is what makes the film so wonderful, uncanny, and, frankly, creepy.

janicemanson An 11-year-old girl named Gitty enjoys the 1980's farm life while living with her pregnant mother, Sarah; evil brother, Martin; and doting father, Abe. A young Gitty discovers a businessman named Jonathan hidden in an abandoned grain silo located on the vast property that is her family's farm. Gitty befriends Jonathan and begins bringing him food and literature at his request with a promise that when he escapes the silo, he would give her anything she wanted. Gitty asks Jonathan to tell her a story, and he tells her the story of the lion and the mouse. Later on, Gitty asks her father if he has heard the story of the lion and the mouse. Abe says he knows the story, but then he ends up reciting the story to her with an incorrect, sinister ending. Abe's version of the story has the mouse setting the lion free, but then the lion harming the mouse anyway after it is set free. I thought this was a foreshadow to the man in the silo being set free by Gitty in the future and then harming Gitty anyway. We learn that Abe was about to lose the family farm and has made some sort of plan with an evil woman named Vera. Abe has agreed to hold the man for ransom, but when evil Martin finds out that Gitty has been speaking to the man in the silo, the game now changes because the man may later be able to identify them with the police. The family panics at the thought of going to prison, so they decide Jonathan must be killed so they will not get caught. Just then, Gitty's mom goes into labor and she and Abe leave for the hospital. Gitty sees her chance to save her friend from a horrible fate. She calls the town's bumbling sheriff, but the sheriff ends up being no help at all and ends up being shot by Martin. A chase ensues, and the Martin now threatens to kill Gitty but ends up falling into a shallow, dried-up well during his pursuit of his sister. Jonathan finally breaks free, only to find Abe has come home from the hospital to kill him. Gitty jumps in front of Jonathan, and an injured Jonathan scampers away. Later, we see a still 11-year-old Gitty fending for herself and eating roadkill to survive, as I assume, her parents are now in prison. As she is preparing her roadkill meat for consumption, we see a fancy car pull up and a clean, and well-suited Jonathan step out. Then the movie ends. Because of Abe's incorrect recital of the Lion and the Mouse, I am left wondering whether Jonathan was there to harm her or if he was there to grant her the wishes he promised to fulfill when he was still captive in the silo. I am not sure if this was supposed to be a cliffhanger, or if the ending was accidentally unclear.All in all, it was a very slow and gentle "thriller." I liked it, but I just with the ending had been more clear.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. The feature film debut of writer/director Anne Hamilton may cause Aesop to turn over in the grave, but it also supports the adage that desperate times call for desperate measures. Just how desperate is really the point here, and the moral line in the sand is drawn by an 11 year old girl named Gitty (short for Gertrude).Gitty (an outstanding Peyton Kennedy) lives on a farm with her pregnant mother Sarah (Marci Miller), bullying brother Martin (Gavin MacIntosh), and beloved father Abe (Kip Pardue). Gitty is the kind of kid who loves stories with happy endings, has a pet chicken named Happy, and loves exploring the surrounding countryside with her friends … a dried water well, abandoned house, and lighting bugs are all part of their daily adventures. Only a remote silo is considered off-limits per her father.It's the 1980's and times are tough for family farms. Making ends meet is incredibly challenging and the sagging economy has resulted in many sell-offs of generational farms and the subsequent suicides of farmers who simply can't face the failure. Gitty blindly trusts her dad when he promises they won't lose their farm. Doubt only enters her mind when she discovers a battered man (Richard Schiff) in business attire locked in that off-limits silo. The captive man tells her not to tell her dad, and instead asks her to bring food and books. Even an 11 year old cloaked in innocence begins to suspect something isn't right.We see the story unfold through the eyes of Gitty, and her fantasies, dreams and visions remind us just how the world looks to a kid. Her openness, curiosity and imagination all act as a kind of sixth sense that lead to the judgment of a child … what is right and what is wrong. Knowing Gitty is the source of our insight helps explain the near cartoonish evil perpetrated by Martin – an overanxious kid who sees himself as some type of "warrior" (an image bestowed by the mysterious Vera). Zuleikha Robinson plays Vera in the mold of a fairy tale witch influencing others … in this case, Gitty's dad … to do her dirty work.The film is beautifully shot by cinematographer Wyatt Garfield, and at various times recalls Pan's Labyrinth, The Fall, and the camera work of Terrence Malick. Gitty's character is easily compared to Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, but her "Honest" Abe dad is no Atticus Finch. Richard Schiff is excellent as the captive man, while Peyton Kennedy reminds of a young Elle Fanning (very high praise indeed). Kids have an amazing ability to see the black and white of right and wrong despite all the extraneous noise going on in their young uncorrupted heads. It's a shame it all turns to gray as we grow older. It's a nice first film from Ms. Hamilton.