Sometimes bad movies are just bad. However, there are rare occasions where a bad movie still hassomething interesting to say about society, and that is the case withThe Farm. The movie has an audience score of16% on Rotten Tomatoes, so there is consensus that it is far from a cinematic masterpiece. But looking past these negative reviews,The Farmoffers one of thedarkest movie takes on cannibalism. In fact, to find a movie that is as blunt about its subject matter, you would have to go all the way back to the originalThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre.Obviously,The Farmis nowhere near thecaliber of theTobe Hooperclassic, yet the unembellished violence and the deviance from spectacle are comparable.Both are devoid of humanity, and look at the theme of meat production;however,The Farmdoes it in a much more industrialized, scaled manner. Whether you enjoy the movie or not, it is guaranteed toraise ethical conundrums in your headafter viewing.
What is ‘The Farm’ About?
The Farmfollows Nora (Nora Yessayan) and Alec (Alec Gaylord), a couple who get kidnapped and end up as captives on a human farm. The setting is made up of various barns, all of which featurehostages placed in situations that livestock faceduring food production in the real world. This includes lactating women attached to machines that remove their breast milk and a room in which women are artificially inseminated.The Farmis blatant with its messaging. It is graphic, but the matter-of-fact way in which this violence is portrayed is what makes it so horrifying and consequently worth discussion. The moviedoesn’t feel like propaganda; it isn’t trying to stop its viewers from consuming animal products. Instead, it feels it is trying to raise awareness of how bad conditions can be for livestock and how the population might react if it were humans in that position.
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There is dialogue around speciesism, prompting you to internally ask yourself why the shock value is so much higher than other horror features. Especially since the bloodshed is nowhere near other features in the’torture porn' subgenresuch asHosteland the later movies in theSawfranchise. Answers to this internal conflict can be found in how farThe Farmis willing to go with its imagery —there is something so matter of fact about its presentation.The camera angles feel voyeuristic, with no movement or zoom into the moments of gore. It almost feels likea found footage movie, as if the viewer is seeing an underground operation thatthey shouldn’t have access to. This is supported by the acting, or lack thereof, which offers no real nuance to any of the performances, but there is something about this scarcity that makesThe Farmfeel so bleak and realistic.
‘The Farm’ Recreates the Voyeuristic Feel of Tobe Hooper
Stylistically, it doesn’t feel like a stretch to compareThe FarmtoThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre. With its grainy presentation and focus on naturalism, the two movies are alike in tone and atmosphere, despite the clear quality gap. What is so terrifying about Leatherface is the way hetreats his victims without an inch of humanity, particularly in the scene in which he throwsPam on a meathook. It is not overtly gory, instead relying on these unsettling and unceremonious sequences that feel unedited and raw.
The Farmdoesn’t rely on the same level of suggestion, showing the audience every inch of these human farms, yet the heedless way the victims are treated matches that unedited feel. One sequence sees a woman, who can no longer get pregnant, carved up for her meat. The callous butchering is done methodically, and it is the way the woman is stripped of her humanity that makes it feel so sadistic andunlike other extreme horror movies.
The Farmforces its audience to look inward at their own ethical choices. It is completely devoid of subtle messaging, and it is refreshingly harrowing to see a movie that is so blatant about what is trying to show. Yes, thecharacters make dumb decisionsand are extremely frustrating to watch, but they have to allowThe Farmto explore the brutality of its concept. The extremity of the concept means it never truly feels like a documentary in the same way asThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre. However, there issomething about its stark portrayal that makes you terribly uncomfortable.
The Farmis available to stream on Peacock.
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