The Tall Man: Not a Horror Movie

Meet Julia Denning (Jessica Biel), a widow and a nurse in an old mining town that used to know better days before the mine was closed down. Now it languishes slowly and the inhabitants live a bitter existence since they have ended up impoverished and their future looks awfully bleak. 
The town is not only attacked by economical urgencies but also by a mysterious figure that has been taking away the little children of the town who are never seen again. The mysterious figure is called The Tall Man and no one really knows who he is for real. 
The story gets personal the day Julia's son is taken away and she begins a desperate search to recover the child. Eventually the truth behind what really is happening emerges and the audience goes from completely puzzled to somewhat concerned for the (social) reality that is exposed by this story.
The point is that despite the way the film is promoted The Tall Man is not a horror movie but some sort of psychological thriller. The purpose of the movie is to entertain by creating anguish and at the same time they want to raise awareness about the problem of children being upbrought by inappropriate people, parents who are not prepared to face such responsibility or are not in the capacity to raise any child properly and thus all that potential in those kids is wasted, lost forever replaced by only suffering and bitterness.
Of course, in order to understand my words it is necessary to see the film. It is not a bad production: the actors are good though not splendid, the story though awkward at times is still digestible and the photography is actually pretty good and so is the recreation of the fictional old mining town with its glorious poverty.
Nothing is what it seems to be in this story that perhaps deserved kinder attention (it made much less than it cost producing it). I especially liked the ending when one of the characters reflects upon what has happened to her and breaks the barrier between what's real and what's fictional to leave the audience with a question that she herself is unable to answer.
Three stars out of five.

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