i must have seen a different film!!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

There isn't even the slightest hint of a reason for the audience to invest any emotional or even intellectual empathy with any of the characters in this movie. There's no drama.. no investment at all - in fact watching it I found myself desperately trying to convince myself not to turn it off as "Something has GOT to happen soon???".The opening shots of the film give you a clue as to what is to come... two establishing shots of a farm in the middle of nowhere that seem to last for 10 minutes (ok I exaggerate - but it feels like that!).. a montage of some naked guys doing something (???!!!).. no information about them is communicated at all. I guess we're supposed to assume her brother was drunk at this (unexplained) beach party??!! I have no idea!! It's so boring after that.. I just wish the naked guys had shown up again and at least put some life into it! If you enjoy watching an actress do her best when essentially she has nothing to do, wonder around a farm picking up shit and cleaning, while finding dead badgers then this film is for you! If you LOVE caravans.. then oh jeez this will be a treat!!!!! Otherwise.. don't spend money on it.

Overacted, a bit melodramatic - perhaps. Too many holes to fill in the story - seemed incomplete. Worst issue, especially for Canadian, Aussie, American and other English speakers outside of England is that the, at times, poor enunciation coupled with British English along with poor audio level control and then capped off with the cheap decision to not offer subtitles left most of the dialogue incomprehensible. Even when I had audio levels three times higher than usual for a film.

"The Levelling" is one such movie. Shot in a naturalistic style, it truly feels as though you're learning more about this family than you should. It doesn't star anyone recognizable, giving a sense of realism. The young veterinarian's return to her family farm opens the door to multiple revelations not only about the recent tragedies, but about things that have been going on for a long time.Only a few movies have been this much like a knife in the stomach. another was "The War Zone", about a family that discovers an ugly secret. I recommend both movies, and I'm eager to see Hope Dickson Leach's next movie.

to rhondasmit "Miserable": yes, this farm appears badly run. dead mum, floods, brink of financial ruin, then suicide of heir apparent. god-awful patriarch unable to cope. daughter ran away long ago. i don't think this film was supposed to be a study in good farm management, good animal husbandry, or exemplary familial bonds. rather - it reflects the reality of most people as flawed human beings with mostly flawed coping mechanisms. sorrow, remorse, depression, the daily grind of life's demands ('you get up and milk the cows every morning forever - this is your life') - it's a depressing movie. why would anyone want to live and work on a farm where litter is left lying about and everything is mired in muck. perhaps that's the point. plot devices are moderately rudimentary: make the vegan veterinarian daughter kill the newborn calf "so the mother won't get attached to it" with the same gun (i think) that the brother had used to kill himself - that was just needlessly ham-handed (or beef-handed?) audience manipulation. ending pretty predictable. dad crying, daughter protagonist crying, sky crying on funeral day. acting was OK given unlikable characters. time-line too short for any character growth.so if you want to be thoroughly depressed, watch this film. at least it's honest enough to not offer some crap Disney-esque happy-ever- after only found in fairy tales. the ending leaves a tiny sliver of hope for those so inclined. if you want unrealistic happy 'farminess" - go watch "Babe".