
Early one summer morning a young man, with a secret stashed away in a duffel bag, emerges from the forest. In a nearby village he asks around for work, but the farmers, suspicious to the point of hostility, are not very forthcoming. Only when Lucy, the mayor's unruly daughter, takes a liking to him, does the village change its attitude: he is promptly offered a job as a farmhand and a caravan to live in. As time passes and he is gradually integrated into the community, it eme... (Full plot summary below)
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Early one summer morning a young man, with a secret stashed away in a duffel bag, emerges from the forest. In a nearby village he asks around for work, but the farmers, suspicious to the point of hostility, are not very forthcoming. Only when Lucy, the mayor's unruly daughter, takes a liking to him, does the village change its attitude: he is promptly offered a job as a farmhand and a caravan to live in. As time passes and he is gradually integrated into the community, it emerges that he's not the only one with a past to hide. Something sinister is lurking under the immaculate surface of this picturesque little world - and it is slowly drawing him in.
Leave your thoughts about Gutland.
| The PlaylistKyle KohnerGovinda Van Maele's full-length feature "Gutland" is a striking debut, one that slowly burns through the magnificent landscapes of rural Luxembourg with flourishes of neorealism. |
| The Film StageJared MobarakBad men become redeemable as good people prove to be monsters. And before it's over we're left to wonder if two wrongs do make a right. |
| Globe and MailDave McGinn[Director Govinda] Van Maele is in no rush to get to the climax and he takes a long time to begin to build suspense, but the slow burn pays off in the end. |
| CineVueChristopher MachellUnfortunately, the film's climax doesn't quite deliver the grand reveal that the rest of the film gestures towards, favouring a shaggy-dog ambivalence that gestures towards surreal ambiguity but perhaps more accurately masks creative indecision |
| Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungIt fascinatingly blurs the line between fantasy and reality, from the eerie intro all the way through to a surprise finale that raises goosebumps. |
| Cinema ScopeAlysia UrrutiaDespite some recognizable tropes of small-town transgressions and cultish persuasions, director Govinda Van Maele proves his skill through a subtle but palpable escalation of tension. |
| Screen InternationalWendy Ide[An] assured hybrid of backwoods thriller and fantasy ... |
| NOW TorontoNorman Wilner... Gutland offers standard pulp fare set firmly on simmer, building to a twist that gets points for audacity but makes almost no sense a moment later. |