The Levelling (a film review)

Clover (played brilliantly by Ellie Kendrick) is a trainee vet returning to her home in the Somerset Levels for the funeral of her brother, who is suspected to have committed suicide, though their father (David Troughton) maintains it was a stupid accident.

The family farm is failing, not having recovered from the recent floods and with the insurance company being reluctant to pay up. In addition, the threat of bovine TB stalks the cattle.

This background leads to much family tension, with Clover and her father barely speaking to each other. The mood is underscored by the wonderful landscape shots with low dark clouds hanging over muddy fields. There are also frequent shots of a hare swimming through the flooded fields, which is dreamlike and quite spooky.

A lot is left unstated in the relationship between Clover and her brother and their father and the viewer is left to wonder whether Clover's heart is really still on the farm or whether she was glad to escape to college.

As the farm workers dig ditches round the farm to protect it from future floods, the walls that Clover and her father have built between themselves start to fall - but can they really patch up their relationship or save the farm? 

The Levelling is showing at Edinburgh Filmhouse until Thursday 18 May.