The Farm Hand (2022)


REVIEWER RATING: 
3/10

DIRECTOR:

CAST:


The Farm Hand (originally titled “Whispers in the Wheat”) begins with a promising beginning. Within the first 5 minutes, we watch a man running through a rural area, desperate to mail out a red journal with a photograph of a middle-aged couple. Upon his return to a small country house on several acres of farmland, he is met by the owner and his staunchly brother who beat him ruthlessly and hold a gun on him until he confesses. “Where is the painting? Where is the journal?” Immediately, he is shot dead when refusing to provide any information…and then we jump 20 years later.

Andrew is a suburban con man, famous for pick pocketing whatever he gets his hands on for easy cash. When he visits dear old mom to store some personal belongings at his home, he stumbles on a shoebox with photos, letters and…the ambiguous red journal. Recognizing it holds secrets from his deceased father, Andrew alerts his mother that he needs to take over from where his father left off…as a Farm Hand.

The same brothers are on the same property and have expanded to include two young adults: a daughter from one brother and a son from the other. This is exponentially irrelevant as the son William is just a bully who takes up space in an already disjointed storyline, while the daughter, Janice is the one shining light throughout the film which led me to add a star to my original 2-point rating.

The Farm Hand painfully drags into unnecessary scenes filled with digging, dinner, digging, awkward conversations, digging, suspicion and well…more digging. Obviously, the digging is all about uncovering this incredible painting that dictates a better life for the one who claims it. A Picasso? A Van Gogh? Surely, you must be joking as the entire premise of hiding and digging up a painting in the boondocks of a homestead just didn’t jive from the get-go. My biggest gripe may be this mysterious photo which debuted at the beginning and made a few cameo appearances during Andrew’s research on his dad’s last job as a farm hand. Soooo…. what’s with that photo???

OVERALL: 
I didn’t get it. A 90 min thriller with no thrills and senseless dialogue that seems to be on loop isn’t my idea of a fun movie night. Although the critical moment of confrontation tried to be violent and frenzied, it just felt forced and drab. Andrew’s daddy issues ruled the entire duration of The Farm Hand, so the shock on his face after learning the truth is simply well, shocking. William was a throw away character, and we never quite resolved this superior greed for this priceless painting. Knock this down to 60 min, and the waste of time resentment will disappear.


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