Dark River (2017) User Reviews

Relentlessly Bleak

[larrys3 · 5/10 · 21 October 2018]

There's no question Ruth Wilson has superb charisma on screen and her co-star Mark Stanley is excellent as well, but this film gives the viewer, in my opinion, little room to "come up for air", as the storyline is just relentlessly dark and bleak. I thought the writer and director here Clio Bernard's 2013 movie The Selfish Giant was powerful and memorable, but her latest film is just too muddled and depressing for my tastes.

It could have been great ???

[delhart2001 · 6/10 · 22 June 2018]

If it had a better script, a better telling of the story and a better director this could have been a great film, instead it is just a farming fighting siblings plod along, sometimes hard to understand the accents, and with a lot of films that don't actually tell you what going to happen, but you can sort of work it out, well with this there is no working out, the whole story line is flawed, and there is not enough dialogue to help you understand the full story. Shame really Ruth Wilson does a fantastic job, if one did not know better she could have been that person, and not a film star, the rest of the cast did what they had to do with such a bad script...........Great scenery, mostly filmed i think in North Yorkshire.

Poor screenwriting

[FilmBuff0409 · 6/10 · 29 April 2019]

Let me start on a positive note, the acting in this movie is very good. Ruth Wilson in particular, as always, played her role spot on. But I'm sad to say that's the only thing this movie has going for it. There is really no real storyline, unless I missed something? It's very vague and suggests that there was trauma in the woman's past, aside from that it's an hour and a half of an unstable man having mental breakdowns and yelling at people. But I blame none of this on the actors, the directors and writers should have added something. At the end of this movie I feel like I'm in the same place as when I watched the trailer prior, and I really wanted to like this one, it was supposed to be fantastic and Ruth Wilson is perfect in all her films and shows.

I give this a 6/10 based solely on Wilson's performance, otherwise I would give it a 3/10

One woman's battle to regain her rightful place in the world.

[TxMike · 7 April 2020]

It is COVID-19 "stay at home" time, I found this movie on the Kanopy streaming site through my public library. Very English, I had to turn on the captions to be able to understand much of the dialog.

Although I haven't seen a lot of her work I am a big Ruth Wilson fan. About 34-ish here she plays Alice Bell, working for someone on their sheep farm. Then she gets word that her father had died so she travels there to stake her claim for the tenancy for her family's sheep farm but immediately meets resistance from her brother who hasn't been taking very good care of the place.

Alice had left home some 15 years earlier, and in flashbacks we are shown that she suffered from abuse by her father. She still had visions that he was there at times. Most of the story is about Alice and her brother locking horns and struggling to find the best course of action through this difficult situation. She wants to revive the farm, he wants to liquidate and take off with the profits.

Its rating is about right, it is a well made and well acted drama but without much joy.

minimalist darkness

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 15 August 2018]

Alice Bell (Ruth Wilson) is a lonely laborer at a sheep farm. After getting news of her father's death, she returns to her family's rundown sheep farm despite being haunted by a family secret. Her bitter brother Joe (Mark Stanley) is angry at her 15 years absence and her attempt to revive the farm. He has plans to sell the stock and abandon the tenancy.

This is dark, bleak, brooding, and not that exceptional. It's all grindingly dark and brooding. The dialogue is sparse. There isn't much surprising. Wilson is able to portray this darkness. It would be nice to have more. It's all one note and oppressively depressing.

Grim up north

[paul2001sw-1 · 6/10 · 10 October 2020]

Ruth Wilson puts in a strong performance in 'Dark River', playing a young farmer who inherits her family's troubled legacy. She's good, but the film never completely escapes its "grim up north" sensibility, as a story unfolds of unmitigated harshness in a world inhabited only the by the terminally taciturn. One can credit the writers for not tossing in a throwaway romance; but without hope, it's hard to sustain the interest of the audience.

Had potential but quickly ended up a pointless mess.

[ToneBalone60 · 3/10 · 13 December 2019]

This movie has early close resemblances to God's Own Country with a different back story but unfortunately it never gets off the ground. Promises are not fulfilled. Like the weather in the scenes, its a damp squib of a movie. The beginning is overly slow and meanders meaninglessly to nowhere before breaking down completely half way through the movie. Stupid characters who seem to have no purpose and garner no sympathy. Probably worked as a novel but this screen adaptation was pointless.

Such an atmospheric movie

[Power_of_Movies · 7/10 · 1 July 2021]

With a great performance of Ruth Wilson in this movie ,She latterly as they say carry the whole movie ,It is more a characters movie ..with conflict here and there and the situation goes worse and worse , I truly liked the movie so much .

Really this is how it ends....

[McGyverfan · 3/10 · 15 March 2021]

The story is good & the acting is great but really? The story is about incest to daughter from father. I am not going to go into detail just that the story could have been so much better. The ending sucks & is just plain stupid! It makes me mad to watch what looks to be a great movie & then after the hour & half it sums it up w/ a horrible ending.

Could Have Been a Fabulous Movie

[Cilica · 6/10 · 6 April 2019]

I understand the anger, the fear and the darkness of the movie. Once gets why the moment the brother asks her why she didn't come back before their father died. WTF was the ending. Why add that into an already sad story of two siblings trying to reconnect through pain, and more pain.

Not So Much

[Astaroth22 · 4/10 · 18 August 2019]

Good acting. Bad script. Another example of positive ratings given because of the subject matter and not the actual movie itself.

A bleak story but an excellent film with excellent performances

[djbaxter-980-742507 · 8/10 · 26 June 2018]

It's a sad story of family trauma and an attempt to go home many years later. The photography is superb. The acting is powerful. It works very well as a film overall. I don't want to say any more at the risk of spoiling it for you if you haven't yet seen it but it is well worth watching.

As for the negative reviews, I suggest you ignore them. This was never intended to be a super-hero action movie. It's a drama and it does what it sets out to do very well.

Why all the animal disrespect

[juanitahearts · 7/10 · 24 May 2020]

Just continuous throwing, pulling, kicking and grabbing of animals. Seriously? Cinematography and acting is spot on though.

Poor Flow

[westsideschl · 4/10 · 3 October 2018]

Storytelling should have a good flow where the pieces fit together, and for the average novice viewer of a 90 min. film they shouldn't be left confused. First, too many flashbacks especially when we have an obvious family relationship problem. We get it! Second, how farming/ranching tenancy works in England left me confused, and if as poorly run as was shown then they need better laws. Also, passing on responsibilities to family members was just a mess left by someone or some organization. The buying & management scenes were too contrived. Third, the sibling arguments seemed forced, and not common sense soluble. Last, the shooting episode, and who was shot and the brother & sister's response left me with what's-going-on?

Another Dark Tale from UK

[filmfan46 · 6/10 · 2 December 2018]

This is another film from UK about the struggle of rual farmers trying to make a living. In the case it is sheep herders of Yorkshire.

Ruth Wilson plays a daughter who returns to her family farm after the death of her father. She tries to reassume her farm life while dealing with her brother for the inheritance.

While Wilson gave a more controlled and internal performance, it is Mark Stanley who played the troubled brother who truly shone.

Normally one would not expect much happening in this type of low-budget inde dramas.

In the case it is the ending that proves less satisfying. And way too many shots towards the barn door opened towards the landscape.

Powerful and touching

[Gordon-11 · 19 August 2020]

This is a very powerful and touching story. Every scene moves you. It's a very well made film.

A rather bleak and grim Yorkshire set drama that perfectly visualises the main character's inner turmoil

[vampire_hounddog · 7/10 · 18 October 2020]

After the death of her father (Sean Bean seen in flashbacks), Alice Bell (Ruth Wilson) comes back to the Yorkshire family farm and must face up to the demons of her past, including her irresponsible brother (Mark Stanley) who is against her taking over the farm.

A rather bleak film, with the bleak landscape externalising Alice's interior turmoil in this slow moving but nevertheless rewarding low key and for the most part understated drama. As a drama it holds itself up well, but there is little that is very cheery here. Wilson holds the film together well and is both a controlled and understated performance.

Is it over yet?

[nickburman · 2/10 · 2 September 2019]

The weak story line was saved from drowning in the sea of sweeping landscape shots by the strong and convincing acting, but still ended up as challenging and thought provoking as a damp paper bag. Half way through, after having my patience stretched, I was willing for the end (either of the world or the film, I wouldn't have minded which) to come quickly. It didn't. Dull. Dull. Dull.

Yet another family trauma drama

[caronabhern · 6/10 · 12 July 2021]

Watched this one out of curiosity because of several Game of Thrones alumni. Disappointed of Sean Bean's role as "that kind of father". Depiction of family farmers plight of survival, with family trauma included. Father having sex with daughter where she ends.up enjoying it, brother fully aware what's happening. Years later, father dies, daughter under the impression that dad left family farm to her, returns home to find brother has let farm go. All the while she is haunted by childhood memories of dad entering her room. Brother pissed that she would try and take over farm so they argue. A conversation ensues where he asks her why she didn't refuse the father. She tells him "I were only a child. Why didn't you stop him?" Then a fatal accident occurs where brother takes the fall out of guilt for not protecting her from father. At the end she visits him in prison, where they don't speak, yet know they love each other and want to try to fix their relationship. Had a hard time with the audio and their heavy accents, but still got the gist of the story.

Dull as dishwater

[CarrieWhite500 · 2/10 · 23 June 2018]

Could have been so much better had it been given a better script. Ruth Wilson is very good despite this, but overall the film lacks punch and won't pull an audience in. Generally I love English films, until now ...

Heavy on Cinematography Low on Plot

[storydjdjlajdfjd · 7/10 · 2 August 2021]

Low-key film between sister and brother resolving differences after inheriting farm. Action around farm work. Cinematography is excellent, dialogue is light, emotional realism around abuse and trauma. A quiet film. Excellent story arc. Ordinary people.

A River Runs Through It

[filmexperienced · 3/10 · 13 February 2019]

'It's grim up North' is a bit of a cliché, but one Dark River takes a solid dive into, smacking its head onto the shallows it finds. Ruth Wilson (struggling with not a lot) returns to her family farm after the death of her father, to find it run down, full of character-defining bad memories, and a relationship with her brother that goes from bad to worse. Sean Bean (high on the credits, seconds in the picture) lends his name only to a sad trend of slightly boring English set muderables - see also The Levelling. Feeling like a tv-special stretched to feature length, the direction is workman-like and dull - just as North Yorkshire is portrayed. They say the British film industry is booming, with Bradford as UNESCO city of film - but on this evidence the region has yet to have a recent film that showcases the beauty, or the plot possibilities, or even the positivity that could be shown.

Yorkshire sheep farmers confront family shame

[maurice_yacowar · 8/10 · 7 February 2018]

A Yorkshire farm family lives out a curse as harsh and ineluctable as a Greek tragedy. The life here is elemental. There are threats of fire and purges in rain. The living quarters are primitive, dark, basic. The men are rough-hewn and violent. The sex is brief, impersonal and urgent. The only modern device is the buzzing shearer. When the guard dog breaks its tether it straightaway mauls a sheep, what it was supposed to protect. This is no Wonderland that this Alice ploughs through, stolid and capable. We see her shear and dip sheep efficiently as a man. For dinner she skins and guts a rabbit, but is drawn from its domestic cooking by her brother Joe's drunken aberrancy. She has to fight off his attempt to burn her Range Rover. As Alice, Ruth Wilson is most expressive in her harrowing silences. The primeval sin is the father's habitual violation of the young Alice. He is all the more sinister for his gentle, tender mien. He didn't need Joe's violence. In shame and anger, Alice spent 15 years working sheep farms wherever she could find them, before her father's death enabled her return. As Joe notes, she is still frightened anew every time she enters a room. Her father haunts her still. And yet.... She has to return to the land. She draws on her father's promise to leave it to her, however poisoned it is by her experience. She applies for its tenancy. She fights Joe in an attempt to bring her new savvy to the operation. Ultimately she loses when he wins the tenancy on the promise to sell out to a developer. The Joe we see is a drunken incompetent lout with his father's male authority. He is violent but has no sand. For he is as scarred by his father's sin as Alice is. He doesn't realize that until she spells it out: "Why didn't you stop him?" His rage and self-destruction are based in that guilt. Joe gets his redemption at the end. He assumes the guilt for the murder Alice accidentally committed. Finally he protects her. Both are strengthened by this cleansing, the confrontation of their curse. So the film closes on an idyllic shot of the two siblings, as teenagers, walking out of the shadowed barn down into their realm of shining fields. It's probably not a memory but a metaphor for the relationship they have now snatched away from their father's shadow. The title has no literal representation in the film. It's antithetic to the waterfall in which Alice twice goes to cleanse herself. Another generation of teens repair there too, possibly without her curse to ablute. The dark river is the family's secret guilt that has rushed through their lives ever since.

Screen Yorkshire alreet

[tonypeacock-1 · 6/10 · 14 November 2019]

These low budget Screen Yorkshire productions play like a version of pre aircrash Emmerdale Farm with their gritty realism of Yorkshire country life.

In this interesting little film a sibling brother Joe and sister Alice (Ruth Wilson) try and cope looking after their family farm after the death of their father. We see him (Sean Bean) in flashback cameos that must have taken all of one day to film. We learn that the father may have sexually assaulted his daughter? Or at least that was the impression I got although nothing was shown.

All we know is that Alice was driven away and it took fifteen years to return to the rat infested, dilapidated farm. Joe has severe anger management issues!

Dull

[richard-93377 · 1/10 · 9 November 2019]

Good acting but terribly boring!! Baaaah baaaah baaaah. Lets shave some sheep.