The Harvest

In his first film in nearly 15 years, the director of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer harks back to the depravity that made his 1986 debut a horror milestone. But less based in reality, The Harvest is closer to a fairy tale from Grimm's darkest corners. Maryann (an impressive Natasha Calis) moves in with her grandparents after she's orphaned. Desperately lonely, the preteen sets out to befriend a neighboring deathly ill, bed-ridden boy (Charlie Tahan), despite the outright disapproval of his mother (Samantha Morton). Maryann's persistence pays off, however, and during a series of secret visits she gradually uncovers some seriously sinister goings-on in the house... Morton as the boy's overprotective surgeon mom is the stuff of great screen villainy-at once utterly monstrous and tragically desperate-so much so that she makes even frequent heavy Michael Shannon, as the more subdued dad, pale in comparison.