DVD Review - The Tall Man (2012)

Following the brilliant-but-harrowing Martyrs you could be forgiven for entering into director Pascal Laugier’s The Tall Man with a certain set of expectations regarding its methods. While the two films may share a similar goal, Martyrs used violence to disturb and comment on its audience while The Tall Man’s aim is to pose questions and inspire introspection, all while subverting genre expectations. 

It initially seems as if Laugier’s nature has been curbed into conventional territory as the film begins with a beaten and bloody woman (Jessica Biel) receiving news of her child’s disappearance before jumping back thirty-six hours. After a credits sequence mimicking the paranoia and omnipresence of Panic Room’s opening we learn via voiceover that the Northwestern mining town of Cold Rock, Washington is dying. Unemployment, poverty and an exodus of its inhabitants are rife, with Biel’s doctor having no reason for staying other than a sense of obligation to the town’s inhabitants after the death of her husband. 

The myth of The Tall Man is established in newsreel footage as various residents of Cold Rock offer their thoughts on his relation to the recent spate of kidnappings, and it’s not long after that Biel’s own child is taken. The chase for her son begins immediately and the film’s first act culminates in a change of plot that signals Laugier’s underhanded intentions for the duration of the film. As a mother and more Jessica Biel’s performance is something to behold (her best by a long shot), one that not only stands up to repeat viewings but improves given the nature of the story. With strong support from Jodelle Ferland playing a mute girl who befriends Biel the central cast is strong throughout, if somewhat overshadowed by Biel’s journey from normality to despondency. 

The stifling atmosphere of a town in its death throes and the resulting sense of dread is captured deftly by Laugier and cinematographer Kamal Derkaoui, but the film’s concern lies not with horror but in exploring surprisingly grounded subject matter. The flashback, the location, even Jessica Biel’s profession; aspects that may seem innocuous or the result of compromises in large-budget filmmaking are made relevant as the film explores issues of abuse, poverty and the well-being of children. The final third is somewhat languorous as motives and answers are slowly revealed in dialogue, especially coming after a first and second act full of uncertainty and action, but not so much as to significantly impact the film as a whole. 

Laugier has once again made a thoughtful and provocative film packaged as something else, starring an actress more known for the type of film that it seeks to subvert. The Tall Man is a strong follow-up; a horror that explores concerns more at home in documentaries.