I Hear the Trees Whispering (2022)

Shot nearly entirely from a first-person perspective (P.O.V.), I Hear the Trees Whispering takes you on an enigmatic mystery thrill that will haunt your mind post-viewing.

The film was written and directed by József Gallai (Project Skyquake, The Whispering Man, The Poltergeist Diaries, Spirits in the Dark), who guides us through the eyes of Will (Gabor Varga), who has taken up a remote job in the middle of nowhere as a forester/caretaker. He is welcomed to his job via phone headset by June (Laura Saxon), who informs him that this job became available as his predecessor recently quit the position.

As June guides him on his daily rounds, we learn more about Will and why he took such a position. According to June, nine out of ten people would not take such a position, only those who are anti-social or are trying to run away from something will accept such a lonely, unfulfilling job. We learn that Will‘s wife, Sara (Beáta Boldog), died tragically in a car accident, and that the offender walked without proper justice being handed out. Unable to handle this, as well as care for Lily, his baby daughter (Zsófia Gallai), Will leaves Lily to be cared for by his father-in-law and ends up here, at Lily of the Valley, a place which by strange coincidence shares its name with his daughter.

Soon enough, strange things begin to happen in the forest. Chainsaw sounds, gunshot sounds, all with no one around. A mysterious figure with a flashlight appears in the distance. Will investigates and finds pictures of his deceased wife and young daughter at an empty campsite. His pursuit of these strange happenings leads him to what looks like a gravesite with a tape recorder and note attached, simply asking “play me”. It is here Gallai unveils what we think is Will‘s truth. It would have been a nice ending there, but Gallai is not done with us yet, pulling the rug from under us in the final act that releases a mind-blowing “poof” revelation in your brain. While this wraps the film up sweetly, it totally makes you rethink what you had just watched previously.

As mentioned, this film was shot almost entirely from a first-person perspective. There are, however, some scenes where we actually get to see the actors. For example, Will‘s dreams play like you’re watching old home video movies where we glimpse his life with Sara and Lily, before the tragic accident. Also revealed to us are Will‘s Father-in-law, Dale (Larry Hankin), as well as characters portrayed by Anita Tóth, Nyell and Jon Vangdal Aamaas. The rest of the cast are not seen, but appear in voice only. The most notable of those voices, being the previous caretaker, Chuck Huntington (Bill Oberst Jr.).

Visually I Hear the Trees Whispering is breathtaking. The cinematography by Gergö Elekes and Gallai is award-winning. I often got lost in the wood’s beauty, forgetting to pay attention to the banter between Will and June. The film was shot mainly in the woods of Isztimer, Hungary, which steal the show, along with the striking soundtrack, also composed by Gergo Elekes, which accompanies the scenery beautifully. The film also features a song by Colton Crawford and a number of tracks by Eric Ziegmont’s State Shock, which amazingly help capture Will and the overall haunting tone of the movie extremely well.

I Hear the Trees Whispering is a film that is the most avant guarde and modern indie film I have seen in a long time. I admit that Gallai‘s filmmaking style from a first-person perspective took me by surprise at first. The more I watched, the more brilliance I saw behind it. Gallai made it work. Sadly, I feel many average viewers might be a bit disillusioned and not get the beauty and grandeur behind Gallai‘s choices. Then again, maybe not. Thanks to its video game style, first-person perspective, and being placed in the middle of some beautiful haunting-looking woods it might actually work for most viewers. Either way, I Hear the Trees Whispering and its simplicity is what makes the film brilliant.

My rating is 7.5 stars out of 10