In The Tall Grass hasn’t been on Netflix that long and it has already created a lot of confusion and left a few people feeling lost like they were in the grass themselves. However, this is what one can expect from a King story. Confusion, pain, alternate realities, and of course, fear. There is no question that this is the kind of movie you have to watch a few times to understand and reading the short story helps a lot as well. But if you are still missing a few details let us try to help you figure out what the heck is going on with this seemingly basic grass.
WARNING: Tons of spoilers inbound!
10. The Church Of Black Rock The Redeemer
The church of Black Rock the Redeemer sounds like something straight from a King novel. The name is spooky and it looks like something King would create in that brilliant mind of his. While the town looked very real it was all just a set constructed on the side of the road.
A man named Rob Staffen loved the look of the church so much he asked production if he could keep it. He erected it on his golf course in Perth Australia and now it looks like King lovers have a new reason to visit Perth.
9. Uluru Rock
The rock at the center of it all has some deep roots in the universe. It has ancient hieroglyphics and underneath it is dead bodies. All of which we can assume succumbed to the field. The rock is also featured in Stephen Spielberg’s Close Encounter Of The Third Kind. Believe it or not, this rock has a very real and deep history going as far back to before the Natives lost their land. The carvings on the rock are telling a story of pain and ritual. It is sacred to Indigenous Australians and it isn’t quite as simple looking at the rock in the film. It’s more like a sandstone.
8. Grass Alters The Past
At one point, later in the film, the audience sees the foursome (Travis, Cal, Becky, and Tobin) all meet up near the rock. They attempt to save Tobin and his mother from his delirious father. However, because of the grass, they are all in an alternate version of their original version.
So the meeting at the rock technically did not happen. Everyone was long dead several times over before this scene took place. The grass creates a timeline than takes elements from that timeline to mess with another timeline thus making our lost characters well…dead.
7. The Grass Is Actually Trying To Help
In some ways. Here’s the deal, Ross touched the rock and immediately he knew what he had to do that would supposedly be beneficial for him and his family. He figures we are stuck in the grass so let’s make the best of it. He constantly tells the others that they aren’t learning therefore, they aren’t listening to the grass, the rock, and every other entity present in this space. At one point, Cal almost kills Travis and Ross ends up killing Cal. The rock is trying to show them that if they all had worked together, maybe none of this would have happened. They MAY have been able to escape if they had just worked together. It’s farfetched but it’s something to think about.
6. The Grass May Be CGI
During an interview with writer/producer Vincenzo Natal, The Verge wanted to know, how in the world they got that grass to look that way. Natali said; “I don’t want to say too much about how we made the film because I don’t want to take away from the experience of it. But I will say this that opening shot, the high angle over grass, was shot from a drone and augmented because the grass wasn’t that perfect.” We say, CGI enhanced or not, this movie was beyond trippy and made us wonder what the hell we would do if we got stuck in some tall grass.
5. Ross Killed Everyone
Some people are confused by exactly who is killing people in this film. We can only assume it is the tall grass because it is all-consuming and terrifying. We see the grass knick the skin of all the characters several times and it makes it seem as though the natural dew on the grass seeps into their bloodstreams and makes them a little crazy. However, we later find out that touching the rock and your own personal intentions are what makes these characters who they are.
Ross by nature is a maniacal person. He has a lot of anger and touching the rock enhances that anger. He kills over and over and over and over and over. We know this because Travis touches the rock and it enhances his compassion leading him to take a version of Tobin to safety.
4. Is The Grass Spreading?
One Reddit user seems to believe so. Close to the end of the film we finally see the group in a few new locations. They enter an abandoned bowling alley. But only, we don’t see any traces of a bowling alley when Cal and Becky first stop. We get a pretty clean view of the town because the siblings look around quite a bit before they enter the grass. The only thing we see is the church and a few abandoned homes. So where does this broken down bowling alley come from? Could it be that the grass actually is spreading and one of the reasons why the characters get so deep and so lost is that it IS expanding?
3. The Church Is a Portal
So many people seemed confused AF about what was happening with the church, how it suddenly looked clean and brand new when Travis shoves Tobin in it to reset life to something more pleasant. Most believed it was a dream and some figured that because everything was reset the town wasn’t fully abandoned yet, however, it seems as though the church can be officially considered a portal between the field realm and the real world.
Travis talks a little bit about being in the right place at the right time. He rushes Tobin out of the field because that right time is coming up and who knows when it will come again. This means the church exists just like the people do both in and out of the loop at different times.
2. Wait, Who Didn’t Read The Script?
Apparently Stephen King and Joe Hil may not have even read the film adaptation of their short story. Writer/producer Vincenzo Natali admitted that he isn’t even sure if King has read or by this point even seen his version of In The Tall Grass. Natali said, “Never, not once, did they exercise that control. I was encouraged to just make my own movie. I think he understands that adaptation shouldn’t be literal. And it certainly couldn’t be in this case. So it was a real pleasure. They’re very collaborative and easy.” when asked how/when he consulted with King and Hill he said, “To be honest, I don’t even know if they read them or not.” This could be the reason for the mixed reviews.
1. Travis Lured In the Humboldts
Many people see the time loop as Becky and Cal getting lured in by Tobin but they don’t fully explain who lured Tobin, Natalie (the mom) and Ross into the grass. Ross mentions that they are lured in by a voice they heard calling for help they chase their dog in who is chasing the voice. Apparently, this was Becky’s voice but Becky and Cal were lured in by Tobin’s voice. Because of the time loop, Travis is apparently already in there and the voice they follow is Travis so they can help him find his pregnant girlfriend. We can chalk to up to one of the realities, right? Especially if the grass can bring back dead people.
Next: In The Tall Grass: 10 Difference Between The Book And The Netflix Movie
