{The Overlook Film Festival 2023} Trim Season

Trim Season is not a fun stoner horror mashup (Looking right at you Evil Bong). While it does feature plenty of the green goddess it is a MUCH weirder film than I expected and one that grips the audience from minute one. The ultraviolent unexpected prologue burns (hehe) through any misconceptions we may have, leaving us cotton-mouthed and paranoid ( I promise I will not do this the entire review). 

Our lead, Emma, (played by Bethlehem Million) does a dutiful job as the lovable loser without any real sense of agency or backbone. Emma is out of a job, soon to be out of an apartment, and in desperate need of a shake-up in her life. After a late night partying with an old friend, Julia (Alex Essoe) the two jump at a chance to make quick cash by bringing in the latest crop of marijuana. Once the workers head out into the woods for “trim season” they realize the pot isn’t what they were expecting and neither are the people who hired them.

The absolute standout in this movie is Jane Badler whose villainess Mona chews up every scene. Equal parts the witch from Gretal and Hansel and Cruella Da Ville, Mona is a great monster controlling the other workers mostly through charm and fear but eventually showing her final form. More priestess than a traditional witch Mona is absolutely terrific and terrifying as the leader of the marijuana cultivators. That being said Badler is channeling her inner Alice Krige here so Mona has some very specific witch-like qualities. Her hands are brutally scarred talons that reinforce that she is a predator and the workers in the fields and in the trim houses are her prey. The hand effects seem 100% practical and look incredible. I want to drum my fingers using her long sharp nails. It would be perfect ASMR.

Minor Spoilers for Trim Season Below……

There is a bit of a bond villain reveal at the end of the movie which comes across as a cliche. Our baddie must inform the lone survivors of her plans and how long they have been in the works. It is not necessary and while I am totally down for a secret strand of weed that turns its users into voodoo pincushions, I didn’t need the exposition. I get it. It is an ancient strain of weed. That weed is used by Mona to bend everyone else’s will to hers. I mostly gathered that on my own. That being said after the exposition dump we get a knarly denouement which I found both poetic and maybe a little funny. The perceived comedy may just be that I am a sicko. It is a firm possibility but the movie does so much to build up Mona as the big bad the way in which she is brought to heel feels fitting and more than a little gross. 

End of Potential Spoilers for Trim Season

Trim Season feels a bit like a modern marijuana fairy tale. Director Ariel Vida manages to tell a cautionary tale about drugs and drug use that does not come across as heavy-handed but rather uses the scare tactics of the past to create modern monsters who are downright terrifying. The movie is never anti-drug but does purposely use drugs as a vehicle to tell a story about agency and how some people lose their agency by using drugs.

As the film unfolds so does the atmosphere and art direction of the film. Much like Signal Horizon favorite Mandy as the nightmare progresses the scenery changes from natural to hallucinatory. An A-frame tent that seems inspired by some of the artwork in Oz Perkins Gretal and Hansel becomes our divining rod. If the tent is lit red then bad shit is going to go down. It is quite effective in ramping up the tension and providing a claustrophobic feel that is often difficult to achieve when shooting out in the woods.

The film looks fantastic and Benson and Moorehead fans may notice that there are elements of this film that feel closely related to some of their films. Vida was the production designer on both The Endless and Something in the Dirt. She has been creating interesting production designs for a few years and that confidence shines here.

From the very first moment to the last death, Trim Season uses its moments of gore sparingly but quite effectively. There are not a ton of gross-out scenes but when they happen boy are they gross. Think limb removal and disembowelment. Gore hounds will love these moments but they are never the focus and do not feel manipulative. They don’t feel cheap so even no gore lovers will be able to move beyond them quickly.

If you are looking for standard stoner horror Trim Season will not be that. It is not super interested in exploring weed culture or creating surrealist landscapes for the explicit interest of those that are high. It has a few of those things but mostly Trim Season wants to be a movie that is scary as hell and looks great. Ariel Vida is quite effective in delivering both. Trim Season makes its international debut today at The Overlook Film Festival