Narvel Roth is a meticulous horticulturist who is devoted to tending the grounds of a beautiful estate and pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager Mrs. Haverhill. When she demands that he take on her wayward and troubled niece, it unlocks dark secrets from a buried violent past.
Joel Edgerton
Narvel Roth
Sigourney Weaver
Norma Haverhill
Quintessa Swindell
Maya Core
Esai Morales
Oscar Neruda
Eduardo Losan
Xavier
Victoria Hill
Isobel Phelps
Amy Le
Janine
Erika Ashley
Maggie
Timothy McKinney
Ronnie
Jared Bankens
RG
Matt Mercurio
Sissy
Christian Vaughn
John
Emily Russell
Waitress
Jef Figallo
US Marshall #2
Sean Richmond
US Marshall #1
Monica R. Harris
Female Host
Rick Cosnett
Stephen Collins
Bruce Mohat
The Old Man
Cade Burk
Johnny Boy
DJames Jones
Reverend Charles
Ja'Quan Monroe-Henderson
Entrance Guard
Eric Stratemeier
Male Party Goer
Jami Bolin
Diner (uncredited)
Samuel Ali
Gardener (uncredited)
Scott Green
Gardener (uncredited)
Suzette Lange
Master Gardener (uncredited)
Colette Jeansonne
Maya's Mom (uncredited)
Connor Turley
Militia Leader (uncredited)
Director, Writer
Paul Schrader
May 27, 2023
6
"Narvel" (Joel Edgerton) is the head gardener on the estate of the wealthy, slightly eccentric, "Norma" (Sigourney Weaver) with both being enormously proud of their horticultural expertise and creations. One afternoon, she entertains him to tea and explains that her great-neice "Maya" (Quintessa Swindell) will be joining his team as an apprentice. The women have never met, nor does "Norma" know much about her - but he agrees and she duly arrives. Initially, we think she's a typically recalcitrant teenager with ripped jeans and permanently glued to her earphones. It becomes quite clear, though, that she is interested and the two begin to bond. There are some extra-curricular elements to the plot that gradually draw the story away from the simplicity and precision of the gardening theme and immerse us in the hatred of white supremacy and the violence of drug dealing and the film becomes more predictable. The first twenty minutes or so have an intriguing intensity to them but as the story develops, the (romantic) melodrama creeps in and the story starts to lose it's originality. By the last half hour I found the whole thing had become really quite mediocre and Edgerton, who starts off as something of an enigma ends up rather banal. That said, his performance is quite effective, menacing even, at times and Swindell is competent enough - it's just all a bit seen it before. Worth a watch, but it could have delivered better.