The Droving (2020) Crime Revenge

The Droving (2020) - Small independent films in the age of streaming actually have a fair chance at being seen. If a producer is savvy on social media she / he can get someone like me, who likes to take chances on films to put eyes on a project and get a bit of feedback or in this case a review. NOT that a large audience reads this blog but that does not change my love for films and the desire to write however poorly about them. Since the film is new and the makers Rubicon wants to create a buzz I will do all in my power to NOT spoil the film but talk about the experience in a way that allows for fair viewing without spoiling the plot. Rubicon is a small company (at least right now) and describe themselves as "...Rubicon Films we bring dark fairy tales and folklore to the screen with heart and style.  We produce independent feature films in a number of different genres."
  Martin's (Daniel Oldroyd) sister Megan (Amy Tyger) was murdered and being an ex-military information extractor he is driven to find the person who killed her. In a sort of  Bryan Mills, in Taken (2008) he has a certain set of skills that make him up for the job.  Questioning characters that knew her Tess (Suzie Frances Garton), The Hermit (Jonathan Lawrence Risdon), Simon (Bobby Robertson) he learns about The Merchant (Alexander King) and how that belief lead to Megan's death eventually solving the mystery of who dunit. Much like the film taken one interaction leads to another, then to another with each step getting Martin closer to the killer. On the way we get to see his "skills" and his internal struggle with the things he has done in the name of obtaining information.
The Droving filmed in Northern England, The Lakes Region, Penrith, Cumbria a lovely little town from the looks of it around the time of their winter droving arts festival. A Drover is someone who drive herd animals into town, and the current Winter Droving festival is an arts festival that encourages you to join the herd. This is a film that builds a myth about a supernatural entity called The Merchant, I will say he is a demon or devil who offers those who have lost love ones the chance to get them back. The exchange though is the death of others, which brings us to the story.  
  My impressions on the story and players are that they have a decent main character, with enough back story to fill him out. Oldroyd plays him how I would expect, with a calmness that seethes rage behind his face (mask). Maybe a bit too confident by the last scene we see some real emotion. Although a bit too "this leads to that" in it's approach the story pacing is decent. It's not a long film and I never found myself disengaged. Tess played with a really nice nuance by Garton was an empathetic character. Risdon's portrayal of the hermit was a bit more manic but considering the plot points I wouldn't really fault him for that. I would have liked the mythology of the Merchant to be a bit more hashed out since it was pivotal to the mystery of why. I wonder if I would have criticized it though if we had gotten a bunch of exposition on the myth. I guess it would depend on how organic those scenes felt. With the slight twist of an ending that leads to the continuation maybe more would have been better to fill out the supernatural side of the story. Overall though I liked the movie and was certainly entertained.
  There were a couple of technical things that distract a bit from that enjoyment. The ambient sounds in many scenes were too loud and distracting, birds, wind, fireplaces, and rain at various times interfered with the dialog in a really annoying way. The other criticism has to do with the night scenes and just that those scenes needed to be lit better. In one case there is a fight scene by Martin's parked car and because the scene is too dark it lacks the impact it could have had to show off his prowess. Like I said earlier though overall enjoyable, the Director George Popov keeps the pacing crisp and the cinematography particularly of the landscapes in that part of England makes me want to visit. The place is stunning and captured beautifully by Harry Young. The music was understated and quite lovely. So while you are all spending most of you time at home during this worldwide pandemic watching way too many screens, take a chance on a small independent film, you won't be sorry.

You can see the Trailer on Youtube