Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

phd_travel I watched this because I am a Vera Farmiga fan. Her younger sister from American Horror Story plays her younger self and it is quite cute to watch how much alike they look.Unfortunately this movie should not have been made. It is about 2 uninteresting people and really goes nowhere. A couple get knocked up, become members of a narrow minded cult like Christian group, and then the marriage falls apart and the wife wants out after losing her faith.If the point was to show religious narrow mindedness then it wasn't really worth the whole movie. There just isn't enough dramatic story or insight. The characters are so uninteresting. Not every book needs to be adapted for screen.

rzajac A lot of folks are posting to point out that HG is just plain boring. I say it's not.What it is, is mundane. Farmiga set herself a difficult hurdle. She decided that she wanted to set this odyssey in the context of the life of, really, an ordinary woman. And so there's a notable wash of the quotidian over the whole movie; lots of pastels and a paucity of striking drama and color. Who buys a ticket to eat oatmeal? Well, there are a couple of redemptive factors, esthetically speaking.One thing she does is place flashpoint moments of pretty intense drama, such as when the personality conflict with her husband culminates in violence; a real white-knuckler! And, that being merely a notable punctuation point in the action, a careful tracking shows the flick to be a kind of moderated exposition, ranging from the truly mundane to some pretty challenging stuff; and everything in between and every which way.HG is an invitation to lovingly and thoughtfully consider those of our brethren who have addressed their existential crises by buying into this particular "out"; socializing themselves into fundamentalism.Interestingly, the eye of the camera viewing this epic could be the fairly dispassionate eye of a deistic god: For example, I found the scene where our heroine meets with a "prophetic" councilor particularly challenging. It requires that we get off our duffs, roll up our sleeves, and personally address the issue: From whence do persons who promote themselves as social arbiters derive their credentials? Does his firm, unblinking claim to divine calling overrule the intuitions of women who simply feel unfulfilled? HG is, I think, carefully directed to leave you to answer this, and other questions, in the tabernacle of your own heart. This will naturally put off some moviegoers who never really felt that this was the purpose of film.I'm not kidding: I'm fully aware that this style of filmmaking puts off plenty of people. Farmiga didn't make this film to be popular: She made it to be honest with herself.And perhaps that's the foundation point of the best recommendation for this flick: How often do you get to see films like that?

berghwithanh I can understand why many people will fail to see Farmiga's genius in creating this gem. It is a slow, thoughtful movie. The fact that Corinne sometimes seems to lack emotion is part of the point. She is repressed in every way, yet at times the true woman's spirit shines through - when laughing with her children, for example - and this contrast shows the depth of Farmiga's acting ability as well as her admirable restraint and daring as a director. To honestly portray a repression that is as much internally as it is externally driven - this is a fine line, and one that Farmiga walks with delicacy.Watching Higher Ground was a deeply personal experience for me. Corinne's story could be mine in so many ways. From the music (which I knew word-for-word), to the nearly word-perfect alter calls for children (while every head is bowed and every eye is closed), to Corinne's moments of recognition (inside with you, or outside with the dogs), everything felt intensely real and honest. People who see this movie as attacking Christianity are probably not able to see their own worlds with any spirit of truth, as - for me, anyway - everything about Corinne's experiences in her church was painted accurately and with a painful degree of realism.I watched this movie with my husband, who was raised without any religion and has a hard time understanding what it was like for me to walk away from my whole life, my whole world. This movie helped me express to him that pain, and that freedom. Like Corinne, I simply couldn't pretend anymore.

ligonlaw When Vera Farmiga selected "Higher Ground" to direct, she did not select an easy subject or one that would typically draw much box office. For most of the movie, you are in church or praying with other Christians and immersed in the evangelical world.Hollywood,in particular, does not do sincere exploration of devoutly religious material, in this kind of depth. Devout Christians are more often portrayed as mentally unbalanced, dangerous or ignorant. For the first third of the movie, I waited for the dark turn of the story to unveil black hearts in the congregation. The soundtrack is all religious, White gospel music, with mostly acoustic instruments. We are introduced to sectarian religious people who have devoted their lives to seeking a connection to God through Jesus. This is not a cynical movie, and there are no snarky undercurrents. I was prepared to dislike this film when it was clear that we are being invited into the world of a small born-again congregation. They speak the language of the intensely religious, and they find Biblical references to explain the events in their lives.Rather than being put off by it, it worked for me. Yes, there were flaws in the story-telling, and there weren't a lot of production values, but this film is about living life on a higher ground. It is too slow for most audiences, and there is no action and not much suspense. The female protagonist seeks contact with her savior in almost every scene. She is not only a servant of her God, but she is reminded that women do not teach or preach to men in her community.She has many questions about her life and her faith, and the film is about how she addresses her spiritual crisis. There aren't any bad people in this film. Even the people I didn't particularly like were very decent sorts of people. Farmiga is the protagonist who becomes born-again as a child, and, as she matures, she finds a gap between what she believes to be true and what she is hearing from the pulpit and her fellow travelers. She is unsatisfied with platitudes and the preaching rings hollow when applied to her life. Her journey is very personal, and, in the end, she follows the truth in her heart. This film does not indict the beliefs of others, and I did not find it to be anti-religious. All spiritual journeys are intensely personal. One must find one's own path to higher ground.This film takes some time to get to you; because it is sincere and essentially a spiritual journey. It will not please everyone, but it might be a gem for those who give it a chance.