Higher Ground

Not even Obi-Wan Kenobi thought this advantageous.

While I admire the authenticity of this film, I am left unsatisfied with it, and I'm fairly sure this lack of satisfaction is intentional. I'd be okay with this if it made an effort to put some words on the deeper conflicts in Corinne's crisis. I suspect a nonbeliever will find the basic tension enough of a conflict, but a believer will almost surely understand that there's a lot more going on, and it doesn't really present it. It's a really, really good try, though.

It's a little rough around the edges but Farmiga channels both depth and sensitivity not only as an actor but (surprisingly) also as a director. A very promising first feature.

Very detailed story of a woman coming to grips with her growing alienation with her fundamentalist religion. But like so many other such vehicles portraying their just criticism of these churches, it offers no alternative other than some nebulous generalized concept of going out and living life. "Outside are the dogs". Yes, a positive point and symbol well taken, but of little comfort to the newly apostate who are inevitably fearful at the loss of their spiritual foundation and family.

Needed a tighter script, perhaps.

"Bereft of both spiritual and narrative spark, the loss-of-faith drama Higher Ground gets stuck in the valley of the shadow of snark." - Bill Weber

Her performance is sensational, but her direction is a little lacklustre. In my opinion, she should have picked either director or actor for this project, not both. I respect her work and this film, I do think it's a good one overall. It has a strong opening and conclusion, but it's a little muddled in the middle. I think with a better director, this could have been a great film, but what it turned out to be was a lesson in directing for Farmiga.