Harvest

Encroaching modernity, class conflict and capitalism are the main threats in Athina Rachel Tsangari’s historical mystery. It's promising material – especially as it's anchored by the ever-compelling Caleb Landry Jones and Harry Melling – but Harvest never settles confidently into its tonal or thematic groove. Smatterings of the earthy, the occult, the hallucinatory and the neo-realist never coalesce into a pacy narrative, despite an explosive, barn-burning opening and the fascinating historical tragedy of the Highlands Clearances against which Harvest unfolds. This is folk horror without enough of either to satisfy.

Jones plays Walter Thirsk, a villager with a chequered past and penchant for silence – playing to the actor’s strength, and the film finds its best moments when it matches Walter’s pacing (Sean Price Williams’ cinematography marvellously captures the haunted, the outcast, and the otherwise ill at ease). Melling is Charles Kent, the well-meaning and somewhat dim lord of the manor, whose childhood friendship with Walter blinds him to the latter’s shortcomings, Charles’ own privileges, and the unnatural forces encroaching on their seemingly isolated existence. As strong as these performances are, it's a shame no Scottish actors were trusted in any of the primary roles.

Tsangari has a clear personal affinity to this story, dedicating the film to her Greek grandparents whose farm has been turned into highways, but she conveys this better through heightened, stylistic vignettes rather than a coherent, cohesive narrative. Brilliantly atmospheric yet hampered by a disjointed plot, Harvest is a missed opportunity despite some strong individual elements.

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Released 18 Jul by MUBI; certificate 18