Indie Gems: Brimstone

I saw the devil.

I've been majorly slacking on these lately. It's nice out, I'm not inside to watch movies enough. No one noticed, right?

Brimstone follows a mute woman Liz (Dakota Fanning) living a quite life with her husband Eli (William Houston) and his children. When The Reverend (Guy Pearce) arrives in their small town, Liz knows she's in danger. 

I have to preface this by saying this movie is two and half hours, and the DVD I got from Netflix said it was an hour and forty-three minutes. So I started this at about 10:00pm after a few glasses of wine. I didn't notice the length until I happened to glance at my watch and saw it was midnight and still going. So that's a plus on its part. It's long, but it doesn't feel that way for the first two hours.  

But man, this movie is weird. I still have a hard time accepting Fanning as the adult that she is when she was such a prolific child actress. So to see her in a few of the situations in this film is quite jarring. I'd go into detail but then there would be spoilers, and this is something you should just let unfold. Liz's story is told out of order, in four parts. There's exceptional gore in all of the these stories. The entire premise is uncomfortable but you just can't look away

I have never hated Guy Pearce so much in a film. He's tremendous as The Reverend and Fanning as always is exceptional. Game of Thrones vets Kit Harrington and Carice Van Houten also show up in act three and are interesting to watch. 

Grade: B-

Watched on: Netflix DVD

Memorable Quote: "People think it's the flames that make Hell unbearable. It's not. It is the absence of love." - The Reverend (Guy Pearce)