The World to Come (2020) 1080p WEBRip

Storyline
In upstate New York in the 1850s, Abigail begins a new year on the rural farm where she lives with her husband Dyer. As Abigail considers the year to come through her journal entries, we experience the marked contrast between her deliberate, stoic manner and her unraveling complex emotions. Spring arrives and Abigail meets Tallie, an emotionally frank and arrestingly beautiful newcomer renting a neighboring farm with her husband, Finney. The two strike up a tentative relationship, filling a void in their lives which neither knew existed.

User Review
"The World To Come" (2020 release from the UK; 98 min.) brings the story of Tallie and Abigail. As the movie opens, it is "Tuesday, January 1, 1856", and we get to know Abigail and her husband Dyer. They live on a remote farm in upstate New York, and life is not easy. Moreover, Abigail is still grieving the death of their 4 yr old daughter the previous year. Then one day another couple, Tallie and Finney, arrives in town to rent the farm next door. It's not long before Tallie and Abigail strike up a strong bond... At this point we are less than 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the debut of Norwegian director Mona Fastvold. Here she brings a slice of life in the 1850s. when times were tough and life could be bleak. The pace of life is much slower than today, and the movie conveys this well (and that's a plus, frankly). And last but certainly not least, people in rural areas lived isolated and lacked communication. Within that context, Abigail and Tallie discover an impossible and forbidden love that will move you. Your heart goes out to these characters as they struggle with daily life. British actresses Katherine Waterson (from the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise) and Vanessa Kirby ("Pieces of a Woman") are outstanding in the two lead roles of Abigail, respectively. Cassey Affleck stars as Abigail's husband and also produced. Please note that the entire film was shot in a stunningly beautiful forest in Romania. And to top it all off, there is a fabulous original score that is heavy on clarinets and bass clarinets, courtesy of British musician and avant garde artist Daniel Blumberg.

"The World To Come" premiered at last year's Venice film festival to immediate critical acclaim. It finally premiered in select theaters this past weekend for a short theatrical run before moving to VOD. Thankfully my art-house theater here in Cincinnati had it in its lineup and I couldn't wait to see it. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay: 8 people in total, which is par for course these days while COVID-19 is still raging in this country. Most movies I see in theaters typically have 5 to 10 attendees. The rest of the movieplex looked like a ghost town. I can't imagine how these place can operate profitably. Meanwhile if you are in the mood for what life in the mid-19th century was like for two lost souls in and out of control, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD (very soon), or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.