Arinze Kene, Athina Rachel Tsangari, BFI London Film Festival, Caleb Landry Jones, drama, film festivals, Frank Dillane, Gary Maitland, Harry Melling, Harvest, movies, New York Film Festival, Noor Dillan-Night, reviews, Rosy McEwen, Thalissa Teixeira, TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival
August 11, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unspecified time period in rural Scotland, the dramatic film “Harvest” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one black person, one Asian person and one multi-racialperson) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A longtime serviceman of an affluent land owner has various conflicts with himself, the local villagers and strangers who arrive in the area.
Culture Audience: “Harvest” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and rambling dramas about people who are boring and/or strange.
Dull, meandering and pretentious, Harvest is the type of movie that seems to be confused about everything it’s trying to be. Caleb Landry Jones plays yet another eccentric loner in a drama where his character mumbles and fumbles through life. By the end of the film, you probably won’t remember any meaningful conversations or fascinating characters. That’s because there are none—although some viewers might be fooled into believing that “Harvest” is more important than it really is, just because the movie was at several high-profile film festivals.
Directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari (who co-wrote the “Harvest” screenplay with Joslyn Barnes), “Harvest” is adapted from Jim Crace’s 2013 novel of the same name. “Harvest” had its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival before making the rounds at several other film festivals in 2024, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival. The movie is mostly faithful to the book’s story, but the changes that are in the movie are not improvements.
The “Harvest” movie takes place in an unspecified time period in an unnamed village in rural Scotland. (“Harvest” was actually filmed on location in Argyllshire, Scotland.) Some of the cast members do not have convincing Scottish accents. The movie’s story is in a period of time before cars were invented, because the main mode of transportation is by horse.
“Harvest” protagonist Walter Thirsk (played by Jones) is a widower who is the longtime servant of Master Charles Kent (played by Harry Melling), a wealthy land owner in the village. Walter’s wife Cecily died an untold number of years ago. He still seems to be grieving over her death, due to his reluctance to find a new love partner. However, there are hints that Walter has some mental health issues that probably existed before he was married.
It’s eventually revealed, from a conversation that Walter has with someone, that Walter and Master Kent have known each other since childhood because Walter’s mother was Master Kent’s milk nurse. When Walter and Master Kent were children, they had a brotherly friendship. Things changed as they got older and their differences in social class put Walter in a subservient position to Master Kent.
Near the beginning of “Harvest,” a horse barn is on fire on Master Kent’s vast farm property. Walter and several of the villagers who work on Master Kent’s farm work frantically to put out the fire and rescue the horses. Master Kent, who has a blank personality, wants to know who or what caused the fire, but no one knows or says anything.
Not long after this fire happens, three strangers—two men and a woman—are captured by the villagers and accused of stealing livestock and burning down the barn. These strangers deny committing these crimes. The villagers don’t believe them.
The two men are identified in the movie’s end credits as Older Beldam (played by Gary Maitland) and Younger Beldam (played by Noor Dillan-Night), while the woman is named Mistress Beldam (played by Thalissa Teixeira). Older Beldam and Young Bedlam are imprisoned next to each other in a pillory in the town square. Also in the same location, some of the female villagers cut off almost all of Mistress Beldam’s long hair to humiliate her, before Mistress Beldam is allowed to leave. She quickly runs away.
The rest of “Harvest” is a series of frequently turgid and sometimes incoherent scenes, where Walter interacts mostly with Master Kent; a resourceful map maker named Phillip Earle, also known Quill (played by Arinzé Kene); and a confident woman named Kitty Gosse (played by Rosy McEwen), who is very attracted to Walter. Any loves scenes in the movie are about as interesting and sexy as looking at a run-down fence.
A girl named Lizzie Carr (played by Maya Bonniwell), who’s about 11 or 12 years old, is crowned the Gleaning Queen of a festival that is a major event of the village. Lizzie will later represent a pivotal turning point in the story. About halfway through the movie, Master Kent’s smirking cousin-in-law Master Edmund Jordan (played by Frank Dillane) arrives unannounced. Master Jordan has an agenda that’s easy to predict, even if some people are tricked by Master Jordan’s smooth-talking ways.
Walter is an inscrutable oddball whose weirdness is not endearing and becomes repetitive. The very first scene of “Harvest” shows Walter biting some bark off of a tree and then spitting out the bark. And then, he sticks his tongue in a hole in the tree. Later, he demands that Quill hit him hard in the face for no reason. Walter shows other indications that he likes to self-harm.
Even though “Harvest” has lovely outdoor locations and very good cinematography, the performances in “Harvest” can get downright tedious. Most of the “Harvest” cast members seem bored with the characters they’re portraying and unsure of their purpose in the movie. The characters in “Harvest” are all surface-level, with mostly vague personal backgrounds and superficial dialogue. By the end of this flaccid movie, you won’t learn much more about protagonist Walter, and you’ll know you probably don’t want to see Walter or any of the other “Harvest” characters again.
MUBI released “Harvest” in selet U.S. cinemas on August 1, 2025. The movie premiered on the MUBI streaming service on August 8, 2025.