Over her winter break, Riley, a college junior, is persuaded by her estranged parents, Kathy and John, to visit home to fix their fractured relationship.
Director and screenwriter Joshua Morgan’s directorial feature debut, Children of the Pines, won an audience prize at the Gasparilla International Film Festival and was awarded BEST FEATURE at Ice CineFest, BEST THRILLER at the Indo-French Film Festival, and BEST FEATURE at Ice CineFest.
Childen of the Pines stars Danielle J. Bowman, Kelly Tappan, Vas Provatakis, Donna Rae Allen, Richard Cohn-Lee, and David Raizor and will be coming to digital platforms globally from the 18th of October. Additionally, Sune Rose Wagner (The Raveonettes), who also wrote the score for the 2015 Oscar-nominated film A WAR, contributes a remarkable original score to the picture.
The film is more metaphor than it is movie. Sure, there are characters and a plot that develop over the usual 3 acts, but Children of the Pines is more a look at abusive family units, particularly those that have patriarchal archetype with the excuse-making mother. The film also highlights how religion and the roles given to the sexes through religion can support abusive family units. The relationship between the father and the ex-boyfriend are again another highlight of that patriarchic system, showing how it’s almost learned and generational behaviour.
Being more of a metaphor than a movie, the first two acts are really confusing and more of a setup for the big reveals and *gasp* moments that we are given in the third and final act. The pacing is strange and the characters awkward. While the final act does have some clever cult antics, it is not enough to detract from the fact that there are more plot holes than Africa has potholes. I never—at any point during the film—felt like I was either fully engaged or completely comprehending what was going on.
This is not me bashing Morgan’s directorial feature debut. Having this achievement at such a young age is a great accomplishment. Starting off this film at the age of 17 is an amazing feat, though his wetness behind the ears may have played a part in the film being very forced. I would have liked the metaphor a little dialled back, perhaps with more focus on the magic and cult aspects of the film. The message would have been less explicit and more implicit through the various horror elements brought to the table.
There is no specific standout performance and all of the technical and editorial aspects are a few cuts above B-grade. It’s a film with a message that is clearly a passion project brought to life. My biggest gripe would be that Children of the Pines did not achieve the balance that is needed between murder, monster, mayhem, and message. A good preachy film must have its symbolism buried within the art, not a spotlight forced upon it.
Thanks for reading and as always, stay sordid. The artwork and the trailer are posted below. Like I said earlier, the film will be live for streaming or download on all digital platforms come October 18th.
