X
- 2022
- R
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
- 2022
- R
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
Summary In a windswept fishing village, a mother (Emily Watson) is torn between protecting her beloved son (Paul Mescal) and her own sense of right and wrong. A lie she tells for him rips apart their family and close-knit community in this tense, sweepingly emotional epic.
Directed By: Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer
Written By: Shane Crowley, Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
- 2022
- R
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
- 2022
- R
- A24
- 1 h 40 m
God's Creatures
69
6.0
Where to Watch
Summary In a windswept fishing village, a mother (Emily Watson) is torn between protecting her beloved son (Paul Mescal) and her own sense of right and wrong. A lie she tells for him rips apart their family and close-knit community in this tense, sweepingly emotional epic.
Directed By: Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer
Written By: Shane Crowley, Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
69
80% Positive
24 Reviews
24 Reviews
20% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
69
80% Positive
24 Reviews
24 Reviews
20% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Anchored by a superb performance by Emily Watson, God’s Creatures is a small, quiet film that packs a surprising punch.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.0
38% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
46% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 User Ratings
6.0
38% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
46% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
15% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
God's Creatures invites you to Aileen's deep questioning inside her. She knows the truth but can't accept it because of the family bond. Day by day, she starts drowning in her mind, and we are witnessing this suffocating process.
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Two powerful moments punctuate this film’s conclusion: one abrupt and unambiguous, one mournful and contemplative. Crowley’s story ultimately shifts to a perspective Hollywood stories don’t often empathize with, hinting at a breaking of cycles, a kind of triumph in the face of both man and nature’s adversity.
God’s Creatures is a story about women doing the best they can by one another in a place where the odds are stacked against them. It’s a chilly film but not a heartless one; sometimes the nature of forgiveness is captured best in a small sliver of light.
The film’s formal flourishes are modest, centering the actors ahead of all else.
This solid but familiar drama is acted with conviction; Watson and Mescal are equally compelling. But there’s only so much a quality performance can do – and the film leans heavily on shots of Watson’s troubled face – when the material is a well-meaning but dourly rote exploration of cycles of violence.
God’s Creatures is yet another movie about a mother realizing too slowly that her son may be a dangerous sociopath. Screenwriter Shane Crowley’s thin characterizations do little to make this tired trope worth revisiting, instead opting to shroud the film in mystery regarding its central crime.
The plot of God’s Creatures is pretty much set in stone from the start, both in tone and pacing, so there's not much to delve further into. Personally, I don't think the storyline is about you figuring out what's going on before the characters do - because you actually do - but more about experiencing Emily Watson's character's dilemma and what ultimately causes her to take the decision with which the film concludes. A good drama, but it lacked spark and more flavor.
Report
A Scottish mother (Emily Watson) finds herself caught in a moral dilemma when she impulsively decides to lie in order to protect her young son (Paul Mescal) from a heinous crime that he has been accused of in a rural Scottish fishing community. This is more of a slow burn from A24, and while there's really nothing too extraordinary on display here, it's the onscreen performances of Watson and Mescal that really keep things afloat here. Otherwise, it is somewhat of a forgettable film.
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Production Company
Nine Daughters,
A24,
BBC Film,
Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland,
WRAP Fund
Release Date Sep 30, 2022
Duration 1 h 40 m
Rating R
Genres
Awards
British Independent Film Awards
• 5 Nominations
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 5 Nominations
Chlotrudis Awards
• 2 Nominations
