THE SEEDING (2023)

New On Demand and in select theaters from Magnet Releasing!
Directed/Written by Barnaby Clay.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/cILLMZoXiCY

A nature photographer named Stone (played by Scott Haze) finds himself lost in the desert and trapped in a small valley where a young woman named Alina (played by Kate Lyn Sheil) lives a life of solitude in a small shack with very limited means. At the rim of the steep valley, Stone discovers a group of strange children who torment him as he futilely attempts to escape.
THE SEEDING is a raw and primal man vs. nature story. Yes, he is being tormented by the children taunting him from above, but for the most part, it is a story about one man desperately fighting for his own survival. Stone attempts to escape over and over, first reaching out for help, second attempting to climb out on his own, then to bargain for his freedom, and finally broken and beaten, pleading for his life. Playing Stone excellently is, who you might recognize from WHAT JONAH SAW where he played a dim-witted brother or CHILD OF GOD where he played a dim-witted outcast in a small town or ANTLERS where he played a drug addicted, abusive father or maybe you might have seen him in JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION which I have yet to see. Either way, it’s apparent from his resume that Haze seems to be sort of typecast as not-so-bright characters and though he is a bit smarter in THE SEEDING, he still makes some bonehead mistakes along the way. Still, this makes his character utterly relatable, making you ask yourself what would you do if you were in this horrific situation. Haze plays a wonderful everyman character and he does it so well, it isn’t surprising that he returns to this role over and again.
Writer/director Barnaby Clay throws an entire world of hurt at Stone relentlessly. This not only highlights the terrible truth of the situation Stone finds himself in, but also the strength Stone finds within himself. The threats are many, but the main one is the reason why. There is a secret held until the end, though with a title like THE SEEDING it doesn’t take long to parse out what it is. But what makes it so interesting, despite the fact that you might have a hint going on is how far this film goes in terms of tormenting Stone to the end of his own sanity.
Though she gives a much more subtle performance, Kate Lyn Sheil is wonderfully subdued as Alina. Why she is in the pit, what is her connection to the children, and why she is so tight lipped are all questions that are eventually answered and these questions are stretched out to a frustrating length, but this only adds to the pressure Stone is under in this inescapable situation. I haven’t seen Sheil before, but looking at her IMDB, it seems she has had a long career as a child actor. Her plain beauty highlights the mystery of the strange character she plays.
These kids on the edge of the valley are truly menacing. They are the ultimate in school bullies, cowardly picking on the weak from a great distance and tearing him apart bit by bit. Stone could probably tear them apart if not for the valley wall between them. The film avoids calling them what they truly are. This very well could be an updated reboot of THE HILLS HAVE EYES as these hill children…are very much inbred monsters who don’t really have an inkling of what civilization is like. Stone talks about a microcosm, where something in a small area grows within a larger ecosystem as he plants food over his extended stay in the valley. This serves as a metaphor for these children who have formed a small society with its own rules and religion in the middle of this desert where it seems like very little grows.
Bookending each chapter of THE SEEDING are title cards depicting the phases of the moon labelled over a dish of food that seems to be rotting the longer the film goes. This also serves as another great metaphor of Stone’s psyche and physical state as his ordeal continues. Filmmaker Barnaby Clay isn’t afraid to slow the pace down of his movie to highlight the beautiful aspects of this canyon the action takes place in such as slow shots of the withered vegetation, patterns in the valley wall, and maggots squirming on a plate of food. It’s in these smaller moments that we get a sense of the decay going on within our main character.
THE SEEDING is a bleak, but beautiful little film. It highlights some truly grotesque things along the way, but ultimately tells the story of survival in an up close and personal sense through Stone’s arduous situation and from a distance with more broad themes of life and death. Adding to the horror is the score which seemingly is made through primitive objects clanging together and tribal rhythms that feel like they are as old as the walls of this desert pit. THE SEEDING is a thinking man’s THE HILLS HAVE EYES. It is a film for the patient, but those who are willing to go on this trek will experience some outstanding performances by Scott Haze and Kate Lyn Sheil, gorgeously dangerous sights, and tribal sounds highlighting an almost unsolvable primal challenge for the hero. I highly recommend this mesmerizing yet emotionally taxing little horror film.

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Music Written by Tim Heidecker
Music & Arrangement by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy https://youtu.be/PDySbxQgZMg
(I do not own this music)