Trim Season (2023)

2023 OVERLOOK FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!

A group of young individuals head to a marijuana farm out in the middle of nowhere, where they are looking to make some quick and easy money. They’ve recently been informed about what’s referred to as Trim Season, the time of year in which marijuana farmers trim their crop in preparation for sale. When the group arrives at this particular farm, however, they come to understand that it has a dark, sinister history that’s still in the making. Their lives are at risk, but they aren’t quite sure why.

Trim Season is a very progressive approach toward filmmaking. It includes diversity and centers on a drug that’s becoming more and more accessible and acceptable. It looks towards the future and attempts to move horror into a place that it hasn’t yet been before. If this is what you’re looking for, and the reality is that there are many people looking for progressive films of this nature, then Trim Season will appeal to you before the film even begins. For viewers like me (and there are still some), these things don’t mean anything. Not that progress isn’t important, but viewers look at these things like they alone can make a film successful–but they are small pieces in a massive puzzle. Being progressive certainly helps Trim Season, but it's not all that makes it possible.

What Trim Season does really well is play with different versions of horror. Mystery, thrills, jump scares, paranormal, suspense, etc. As it moves between the different types of horror, Writer David Blair and Director Ariel Vida do a great job of smoothly transitioning from place to place throughout the course of the film. While it often feels like there are a lot of things going on (and there are), the reality is that the crisp nature of what Blair and Vida are able to create allows things to play out in a linear fashion, causing Trim Season to effectively reach viewers, to become accessible, and to see all the things come together and create one, cohesive story.

As the intensity of Trim Season begins to ramp up, Bex Taylor-Klaus (Dusty) has a scene in which they put on a truly spectacular performance. As the tone shifts from suspenseful to horrific and creepy, Dusty acts as the segue between the two, and they do a wonderful job of bringing that to life in a way that’s very real, physical, and visceral. While the writing in this regard is incredibly important to the development of the film, it’s Taylor-Klaus’ performance that allows viewers to fully understand this transition and to be able to appreciate all that is occurring in these moments.

Trim Season feels like a typical horror film, and in a lot of ways it is. What it does differently than most is incorporate bits and pieces of many different subgenres of horror. It does everything it can to work in jump scares, suspense, darkness, mystery, and more (like I’ve already said), and it’s impressive that this many things can work together to create an enjoyable film. Trim Season is a horror film for horror fans, but the technical stability of Vida’s film will attract viewers from all walks of life.

Directed by Ariel Vida.

Written by David Blair, Sean E. DeMott, Cullen Poythress, Megan Sutherland, & Ariel Vida.

Starring Bethlehem Million, Alex Essoe, Ally Ioannides, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Jane Badler, Juliette Kenn De Balinthazy, etc.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10