User reviews

Slow-burn wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't repetitive - there's barely any narrative and slice of life portrayal of depressing squalor quickly grows thin. Smoking, drinking and monotonous sermons are atmospheric and naturalistic, which would be a welcome addition to some story, but there is none. Hopefully the young director will build upon this achievement and not get stuck in more of the same.

Poor film quality left me not sure what was happening at several junctures. While darkness in certain films can be an effective device, I'm not sure whether that was the intent or that the lighting was just of poor quality. I actually believe this film could possibly be re-edited for a better result. The tone of the film seemed to very effectively capture a brooding, slow paced, drone on, and difficulty of life among people living at the edges of society. While I thought that to be true, I believe the script could have been altered to increase the pace. Acting was very effective and credible.

A prime example of how reviewers are completely irrelevant. People politics have become the primary focus, rather than the content and particularly quality of the film itself. How many films now have great critical responses but mediocre user ratings? Not because the public is so uninformed, but that the film, the entity they're supposed to be assessing, is of questionable quality.

This is one such film. Poorly shot, bad lighting, pointless scenes that drag on and on, with little development in story or character. One decent performance. A good location, wasted through an amateur production. Really, there's not a lot more to say about it.

The critics just saw color and the director's age and jumped to the now predictable glowing states. Perhaps they're the real bigots, that they feel they have to automatically prop some filmmakers up because of their origins. A true system without personal judgment would simply focus on the work. And that is not the case here.

I watched this film because I'm a big fan of Wendell Pierce. I think he's an incredible actor who's talent is underutilized. Whereas Mr. Pierce's talent shone through in this film, the film itself was murky. It was slow; the film was poorly lit; the message too be conveyed, if there was a message, was absent from the film; and the writing seemed unsteady. I feel like I wasted my 78 minutes on characters who were not likeable and who were extremely detached from each other and from the film. This film was over-hyped and a waste of time, and I can't help but think that the critics raved over the film because it presented yet another set of black folks who were downtrodden, addicted to a substance, and self-pitying.

Burning Cane - I have followed this movie ever since Ava DuVernay (director of When They See Us / Selma) mentioned it on her Instagram. Her company Array Now would inevitable distribute it on Netflix, who Ava has sustained a good working relationship with.

The film has been successfully screening both in the US and UK and has mostly mixed reviews. However, being a fan of independent films, I found this film to be quite intriguing. I found its characters relatable to most families today. I found its subject matter to be quite profound. Althought, at times, different decisions could have been made with the placement of the camera, it is the humble beginnings of a director who is bound to go far.

The films director, a 19 year old Phillip Youmans demonstrates his ability to tell a story without the need for flashy cars and over the top CGI.. The film is anything but that. It is a simple story at heart. Youmans also shows his ability to make a movie without the need of a major studio backing him, although this is where he is headed next.

After winning the top prize at the Tribeca film festival, many people came out with mixed feelings for the film. Many even went as far as to say the film is boring and amateurish. I however, disagree. If you're interested in how a story can be and should be told, then you'll enjoy this. If not, im sure theres a screening of some franchise film playing somewhere you can waste your money on.

Independent film, at its core is about human emotion, disasters, pain, grief, suffering, loss, happiness and love. Youmans showcases this in his film BURNING CANE.

The reason for my score is purely based on Youmans decisions for camera placement and at times, a fluctuating audio level.

A solid effort from a director who is about to become noticed.

A very slow moving movie, the hand held camera shots gave it a home-made feel but this style was delivered at the expense of any substance. With a drunk pastor, lots of drinking and smoking, you wondered just what message it was aiming to deliver. Fortunately the Blues backing soundtrack and the gospel singing was great. Not enough to save the movie that was in the end, just a little dull.

This is definitely not the worst movie I have ever seen! But it definitely moves very slowly with a depressing storyline that is very difficult to follow. An hour in, frankly, I'm still not very sure of the storyline itself. Honestly, I had to refer to online reviews to understand it other than the fact that it revolves around lost, broken black men and religion. In fact, the storyline is so poorly drawn compounded with the way the camera often pans in and out, one initially believes there may be sexual abuse of Jeremiah by his father given the heavy use of alcohol in some of the scenes. Thankfully I guess that's not the case. The cinematography really threw me because some of the scenes are so dark that I literally cannot make out what's happening. At other times, the outdoor scenes are really beautiful and well done. The characters are quite one-dimensional which is also unfortunate. Jeremiah is something of a prop because we really don't know anything about him. The father is also largely just a shadowy drunk. Toward the end, we get rushed information about him through a single narrative/conversation but it would have been nice to have found out more about his life progressively throughout the film. We don't really understand how he came to be a drunk. Obviously, he wasn't born a drunk. Did he ever work? Did he ever leave this area and come back? Was he ever NOT depressed? He nearly becomes a ghost before we know anything about how he actually lived. Same with the stereotypical Pastor. By now, I think we've seen enough films from scarred black people who have been to churches with fallen pastors. Not every Pastor in the black church is shady though. Just want to put that out there. Anyway, the film could have been clearer but for a 19 year old, I'm going to give him some leeway.

...it's dark (did the DP leave his thumb over the iPhone camera?), somewhat incomprehensible, rather boring and obviously a freshman effort.

The actors' performances are very strong, but the film literally lulled me to sleep.

The gushing over the young director (okay, he made the film in high school, rah, rah, rah) and existence of 20+ Marvel Cinematic Universe "films" may indicate the end of civilization is near.

Suppose it was time for "Beasts of the Southern Wild 2," because this is it. That film was much more interesting.

Good art gets your attention. Great art demands that you return to visit, view. Genius art requires that you revisit and discuss, perhaps try a hand at interpretation, stroke your chin, tap your temple, reaarange your thinking...

This is "Burning Cane:" Genius art. On all levels of acting, writing, riff performances, lighting, camera angles, intensity, tenderness, warmth, charm, anger and vividly displayed humanism, this collective of artists invites you, commands you to think and to question.

In 1907 Picasso did a piece of art, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, now at the Museum of Modern Art which broke all rules of engagement and turned the world upside down. Karen-kaia Livers Wendell Pierce et al do this in 2019. Mark your calendar for generations to come. Ken Mask

"You will never be truly happy and fulfilled if you try to hang on to possessions." Reverend Tillman (Wendell Pierce)

You can almost smell the cane burning in Phillip Youmans' Burning Cane on Netflix. Such is the synesthetic cinematic experience that every word and every image carry weight on the sense and sensibility not ordinarily given to short films. While we can easily rely on the meaning of the pastor's familiar intonation, the demanding drama will depict lives looking for meaning not in possessions.

The isolation characters feel and their lack of trust in God and each other form the dramatic foundation of this still beautiful and memorable film as homily. This brooding tone poem briefly lets you into the personal lives of deeply spiritual and flawed folks in the cane fields of rural Louisiana.

Tillman struggles with the depression of being a recent widower, and the demon bottle helps little. Just the same with Daniel (Dominique McClellan), only he's a job widower, who listens little to mother Helen (Karen Kaia Livers), who listens to the Lord through the Bible. He is indeed her Shepard.

Not always bound to the dreamy world of worship, Helen reminds Daniel that his father died of AIDS. Besides the poetic qualities of this drama is the reality of life in general and rural poverty in particular. Youmans' camera lingers in the passageways and corners to let you live with these complicated characters, never imposing anything more that deeply-felt emotion sometimes embodied in gospel tunes or in simple dialogue that says much more than it is.

Writer, director, cinematographer, and editor Philip Youmans won Best Narrative feature at the Tribeca Film Festival 2019 as well as Best Cinematography. Pierce won best actor. In other words, this well-pedigreed first feature from Youmans is worth your 77 min, for it embraces small lives with feeling. An enjoyable emotional experience.

BTW, Youmans was 19 when he launched this gem, a senior in high school.

Not well done. I could tell this so called black film was not written by a black person; The way it depicts such ugliness and ignorance in the black characters. Self hate? Weirdly boring and outlandish 😡

Incomrehensible clap trap and babble. The fancy whiskey, the stylish German coup, all of it unbelievable and silly. Talking or thinking any more about this movie would be a waste of breath.

I absolutely loved this movie. Very well done. I felt left hanging at the finale, however. Can anyone tell me who Helen shot at the end? It's driving me crazy'

This movie manages to be poorly shot, gimmicky and beyond boring at the same time. None of its characters are in any way compelling - the alcoholic preacher character has been done (much better) before. In the end you end up not caring about any of the characters in any way.

Where shall I start? The storyline, the editing, the acting, the cinematography was poor. A dull and boring film that I wouldn't recommend unless you are so bored from life and you want to kill your time!

Great movie! It was slow but it did hold my attention. This movie is very realistic and powerful. There is the struggle between religion and coping with demons in movie, which some people deal with in this world. Kudos to the young director who put this movie together. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

Awful, 'Burning Cane' didn't do anything for me personally, and I'll explain why.

When I come to a film and I'm trying to grasp what it's all about, 3 main questions pop into my head, quite instinctively: 1) What's the 'angle' here, who's point of view is represented by the film maker and why?

2) What's the overall message of the film?

3) Why did they make this film?

I'm afraid to all 3 questions, I just drew a complete blank. Alcoholism? Abuse? Poverty? Depravity? God? Hope? Despair? I've no idea at all! Even the film making itself was desperate, long shots in poorly lit rooms, what were we even meant to be looking at? Film maker and writer Phillip Youmans, you offered us so much gloom and despair in this short chronicle of human misery, and so little hope. Even if you were trying to make a social comment on the lives of black Lousianians what was it, exactly? And how awful to show people in this desperate plight. Give us some hope, please. Even the central mother character goes off the rails by the end. A pointless film, painful to watch without anything uplifting or hopeful about it. Why did you make this film? I have no idea? Awful.

Slow and boring...dark and depressing...cynical and on the nose...style over substance...sleep inducing

Loved it, ignore the Negative people.

This film is a must see, a lot better than any of the knuckle heads still trying to make a movie

A Stand Alone and Essential American film. As if printed on dark velvet at twilight. Not a single white person here. Gorgeous black skin, low country fields, wooden frame houses, distant insects. The camera with its sensitive eye, subjective, loving, at times careening through an interior or tracing a body from below. The audience doesn't so much follow as absorb content, a beautiful stain. Sugarcane and its bitter historical/cultural repercussions. Every performance is brilliant. Answers to my narrative questions are personal and may be wrong, but I was grateful to the young filmmaker for keeping anything from being obvious. Bravo, Philip Youmans and team.