Mike B There are just too many disconnections in this movie. It's really BAD. Scenes just meander one into another without any rhyme or reason. They are punctuated by pretty people singing and playing guitar. I think if the film had focused on a few days (or hours) of our main protagonists' life it would have been far better. Instead we get a whole lifespan with a multitude of themes. There is really nothing good about this film – the dialogue, the editing, the acting, but most of all the storyline is like a buffet dinner with everything possible at the table – and none of it tastes good. So really go to a buffet dinner instead of this movie – at least you won't come out feeling empty.

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?

sddavis63 I would have to say that the basic problem with this movie is that it's jot especially interesting - at least, it wasn't to me. Basically, we follow the spiritual journey of Corinne (Vera Farmiga, who also directed this) from childhood through a fundamentalist upbringing and involvement in a fundamentalist Christian sect until the point at which (literally) she walks out of the door and into a new life. To be honest, I felt little connection with Corinne. I didn't find the character well developed. We saw her at various points in her life, but the connections between those various points weren't explored. Corinne seems to struggle with her faith from the moment that she gets "saved," never really comfortable with it, but not really comfortable breaking away from it either. Her struggles with her faith is portrayed in a number of scenes where she clearly thinks thoughts that are unacceptable to the sect to which she belongs (there's a hint of lesbianism scattered in this movie, especially in the relationship between Corinne and Annika (Dagmara Dominczyk.) Corrine has fantasies about Annika - portrayed fairly innocently on screen - but they surely represent her inner struggle with the idea that there has to be more to life than she's seeing as a part of this rather controlling sect, where she's being constantly told how to dress and where it's clear that women are second class members.)The movie wasn't overtly negative of this type of Christianity. It's clear that some members of the sect are quite content with this life. It's just that Corinne wasn't. I would have liked to have seen more about Corrine's spiritual search. The only form of Christianity she was exposed to outside of the sect she belonged to was charismatic Christianity (Annika spoke in tongues.) But even though Christianity is far more diverse than that, the movie's end seemed to point to a sense that Corinne either had to stay with the sect or leave the faith altogether. There was no reference at all to more mainline versions of Christianity, although that may in itself make a point. As a mainline pastor, my general observation has been that people raised in fundamentalist backgrounds tend to give up on the church altogether if they rebel, rather than seeking out a more moderate take on Christianity; almost as if they think, even though they've rejected the teaching, that fundamentalism is still the only valid expression of Christianity that there is. I refer to the group as a "sect" because I didn't have a sense that they belonged to any particular denomination. They seemed to be a very independent group (which, to me, raises all sorts of problems in terms of accountability.) Some of the sect members seemed to be a bit of a caricature of such people. There was a very "hippy-ish" quality to some of them.Watching Corinne's spiritual evolution was somewhat interesting, and the ending of the movie, as she walked out the door of the sect's service, did make me feel some sympathy for her. It was as if she was on her own, with no help, no one to turn to after all these years when she was told so much about how to live. Overall, though, the movie didn't really strike much of a chord with me. (4/10)

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.