"The Tall Man" is the new film from French director Pascal Laugier, and it's his first English language film. Laugier is well known in the horror genre for his notoriously brutal 2008 film "Martyrs," another film I'd definitely not recommend for Halloween. Actually I'm not sure I'd recommend that one at all. Oh it's a good film. It's aces in all the technical areas as well as the performances. It's just ... it's ugly. I've had several people defend the film saying the brutality is at service to a higher message that the film is trying to get across. And I acknowledge that that's entirely possibly ... I just don't know what the hell that message is. Granted, I've only watched it once. But it's an uncomfortable experience, and I'm not sure I need to sit through it again to try and ferret out its message. That and the fact that I'm not wholly convinced that it's not just pretending to be about something bigger in order to justify itself. That aside, I do acknowledge it's a well made and effective film.
"The Tall Man" on the other hand does have very interesting ideas at its core. The story concerns a mining town whose fortunes have gone south - way south - with the closing of the local mine. Poverty abounds, and to make matters worse, children are seemingly vanishing without a trace. Rumors link the missing children to a local legend known as The Tall Man. Some see him, or it, as a dark, supernatural presence. Others believe The Tall Man is nothing more than a child molester who will eventually be caught and prosecuted.
Enter our main character, portrayed magnificently by Jessica Biel. If you'll allow me a quick tangent, this is easily the best acting of Biel's career thus far. She stretches beyond anything I've seen her do in the past giving an emotionally complex, multi-layered performance that I'd put up there with any of the best I've seen this year.
Back to the story. Biel plays a local nurse, and the only medical professional in town since the death of her doctor husband. She is warm and compassionate, giving her all to the people who trust her. Her life seems particularly in tune despite the dying town she lives in. That is up until the night the Tall Man shows up for her son. She catches the hooded figure in the act of abduction and gives chase leading to a visually intense pursuit, going from a foot chase to clinging to the side of a truck.
And from there I'll say no more about what happens as it would turn deep into spoiler territory. All I will say is whatever you expect to happen, you're wrong. I'd hesitate to call what takes place a "twist" as that often leads one to think of a forced, gotcha sort of story turn. That isn't the case here. It's just that the story goes off in a completely different direction than one would expect from a film built around child disappearances and local legends of supernatural entities. It's a thoughtful film posing questions about poverty, wealth and the welfare of children. Thoughtful, but not pretentious as it poses questions, but doesn't throw answers at you. In fact, I'd argue it offers no answers at all. It's more of a simple, hey, here's some ideas, think about them.
So why wouldn't I recommend this film for Halloween? It's just not fun and it's not particularly scary. Why write about it then? Because I think the film deserves an audience. It's a very good, thought-provoking film with a fantastic performance from the lead actress, so I'd recommend you see it sometime if what I've said has peaked your interest. But for a Halloween film? Nah. For me, at least, I'm looking for more entertainment and chills, and I just didn't get that from "The Tall Man."
I caught "The Tall Man" on Netflix streaming service, it's available on Amazon Instant Movies for $3.99, and it's also available in some Redbox machines last I checked.
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