God’s Country (2022) | Film Review

Opening with a quick history lesson set amidst a subtle slideshow presentation, writer-director Julian Higgins is letting us know up front that in his pseudo-western, God’s Country, the details matter. Not so much the specific sprawling locale amongst the desolate mountains our heroine, Sandra Guidry, calls home. Nor even the motives of those Sandra crosses paths with. No, for Higgins and co-writer Shaye Ogbanna, it’s the finer points of what is itching under Sandra’s skin that truly resonates.

Sandra (Thandiwe Newton) is a professor at the local college, notably the only faculty member of color. Transplanted from her previous life in New Orleans, Sandra is still reeling from the death of her mother when a pair of hunters (Joris Jarsky and Jefferson White) use her land as a parking spot while they hunt deep within the mountains. This is a normal occurrence in these parts, but it is a courtesy Sandra fiercely asserts no interest in. She confronts the trespassers in effort to ask them to park elsewhere and things escalate, but in completely different directions than that description might otherwise allude to.

The script for God’s Country is an intriguing one, as this is not a straight-forward pulpy crime thriller. Rather, it is an intensely personal character study of a woman exhausted from a life of being slighted and marginalized. The underlying themes apply directly to living a life as a woman of an ethnic background, the genuine build-up of frustration while quietly suffering through either the ignorance or outright disrespect of one’s fellow humans, even colleagues.

All the pieces are here for a riveting tale, and while the film is powerfully carried on the shoulders of Thandiwe Newton (aka the best aspect of every season of Westworld), it becomes a bit muddled as God’s Country strives to cover too much ground with little introspection. Identity politics, power dynamics, common courtesy, misogyny, and more are picked at throughout. But with darts flying in multiple directions, it becomes too uneven to get pulled back into an entertainingly streamlined package.

Thankfully, Newton is here to foster our attention even when the script seems to lose its way. Sandra is unlike so many characters in similar situations. Never scared, and often antagonistic, Sandra does not retreat from battle. Instead, she chases it down headfirst, refusing to suffer any fools, not even the lackadaisical local deputy (Jeremy Bobb). There is even a beautiful scene where Sandra confronts her aggressor in a church only to briefly engage in a heartfelt dialogue on family matters. But when it sours, Sandra is back on-point.

Thandiwe Newton is an actress who has almost reinvented silent strength these past few years – again, watch her fantastic work on Westworld – and God’s Country is no exception. There are moments throughout where any rational audience member is going to question Sandra’s decisions. We as a society are so conditioned to accept modest courtesies rather than confront outright piggish behavior because it could be seen as “rude”. Sandra has no issue with addressing that elephant in the room, even smacking it right in its snout, and very few actors can manage this without risking losing a portion of their audience. Thandiwe Newton is that exception.

God’s Country is a slow-burn thriller that suffers from a bit too many irons in the fire for us to walk away unscathed enough to elevate the film to truly memorable. Character’s motives matter little, as this film is solely focused on Sandra’s psychological journey through hell, and thankfully there is no one better suited to lead us than Thandiwe Newton.