The Nth Ward (2017) User Reviews

An honest review

[andrewrye-06535 · 3/10 · 24 November 2018]

So sick of fake reviews and I watched this based on the other reviews I saw here. I should have been warned when most have only reviewed this movie and raved about it. One of the reviewers even got the story line wrong.

It is a B grade movie at best. Acting is stilted but ok for an independent. Writing is shocking and direction feels claustrophobic. In one scene the lead actress runs out of her room almost undressed in a frightened state. She runs straight into the weird manager and the rest of the scene they stand about an inch away from one another. Unbelievable and mostly the actors looked like they didn't know what they were doing.

The story line is unoriginal - alcoholic losing daughter, been on the wagon for 6 months and ends up in a bar looking at a drink after being fired. Seen it before. Old woman with voodoo connections - seen it before. Corrupt mayor trying to evict said old woman - seen it before.

The story felt like it was trying too hard and got lost. It did nothing for post-katrina New Orleans and added nothing to the voodoo story line.

Avoid and ignore the obvious shill posters - a generous 3 from me.

It was okay but

[hoardac · 4/10 · 26 November 2018]

They lost me with some bad acting/directing and who ever edited it should have paid more attention. Plus they played a game of dart not darts but dart only one fricking dart.

Good if you're not paying to watch it.

[dharrisonk-36679 · 4/10 · 28 December 2018]

The umpteenth movie to use New Orleans, black people and voodoo to make a supernatural thriller.

The lead actress has SOME believability, but the times when she is are outweighed by either unbelievable CGI effects, wooden acting or both.

The scene where the mayor falls through a hole in rotted floorboards (even though they're outside) left a bad taste - Madison is clearly 5 metres away when the mayor falls in the hole, but somehow she has to scramble to not fall through, and you can actually see her surreptitiously push herself back to make it look like she's in peril. And then is miraculously saved by a man who is visibly suffering from silver poisoning.

Also, the plot tie-up wasn't really well explained.

Final thoughts: Meh...

Run Away

[jayg_58 · 2/10 · 26 November 2018]

No actors; no editing; no coherent story. Almost everyone looks as if they're reading right off the script. No real connection between the characters. Corruption in New Orleans? Tell me it ain't so. I lived there for some years, and that's all there is. Throw in some oblique references to voodoo, and no save. Unless you want to see some local color and fast forward the rest, don't bother. In fact if you see the first 15 minutes, that should be enough warning.

Really bad acting.

[vegicat · 1/10 · 27 November 2018]

Stilted script, poor acting. Not believable that the lead actress had military background at all.

The good ratings must be fake. So annoying.

thank god for fast forward

[An_Hedonic · 1/10 · 27 November 2018]

As a native New Orleanian I hoped this movie would at least be interesting. It's not. The acting, especially of the main character, is so wooden you could hammer nails in it. The movie could have been interesting -- in post-Katrina N.O. an engineer (with the "US Army Corps") investigates the devastated 9th Ward, where large areas are still uninhabited. Her job is to determine if the area can be rebuilt. A crooked contractor and the mayor want to buy the land for some gentrification scheme. The investigator is part of a team; her partner is a sub-contractor who knows the truth but is basically a good guy. There are many idiotic contrivances, such as one woman whose house is immaculate who gets water from her well -- there are no wells in New Orleans; an explanation about the marks left on houses (an X rescuers used to show they had searched a house is supposed to mean the building can be demolished) as being occult; and people disappear. Then there's the Voodoo element, which no story about the city can ever get right, that's about as frightening as a child in a Halloween costume. Turning lights off isn't very scary. Here's the thing: 80% of housing throughout the city was destroyed by the flooding. If someone wanted to buy land there were many other neighborhoods that would fetch a lot more money than the historically poor, flood prone 9th Ward. There were even several nationally covered efforts, like Brad Pitt's program, to help rebuild the 9th Ward so the "gentrification" plot makes no sense. The movie ends with the mayor trying to kill the heroine but getting killed himself, then everything is fine and the neighborhood will be reborn. If you want something to put you to sleep the movie ins available on Amazon but if you don't have a Prime account save your money!

Let's Be Realistic, This Is Just A Bad Movie - Period.

[deager · 2/10 · 16 March 2020]

There is no great script on corruption, no great lead actress, no superb direction, no nothing! Nada, nilch, zip! Perhaps the actor who played the hero, Skitch or Hitch or what ever his name was deserves a mention for at least holding his head above the mass of wood call acting. The script, written by the director, forgot to even attempt at a logical ending (among other coherent dialogue) - wham the corrupt Mayor dies & suddenly we are in happy happy land! Uh, what about the corrupt other folks, the heroes job, the...oh never mind. I figure they had about $1,539.49 budget for this & it shows. Really, DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO ANY REVIEW OVER A 4! Oh yeah, my wife & I watched every single solitary second of this movie & I can truthfully say it does not even meet the Plan Nine From Outer Space test, if you know what I mean!

Don't waste your time

[kathyilovethesun · 1/10 · 7 January 2020]

Quite possibly the worse movie I have ever seen. The acting is terrible, the plot seems to be made up as the movie went along. The end didn't resolve any of the questions. All in all a terrible movie.

Terrible

[danny08-1 · 1/10 · 9 September 2020]

D grade movie. F grade acting. Wish I can get that 101 minutes back. I wasn't expecting much when I started watching but geez I wasn't expecting that. A big thumbs down.

Very little could make it worse

[boogykas · 1/10 · 8 April 2020]

As a Canadian, it's embarrassing to say that this is a Canadian indie. Awful acting, terrible script, bad direction, appalling FX. It's terrible! At least I didn't have to pay to see it - but I would hardly call this "Prime Video".

A beautifully rendered atmospheric film of Katrina aftermath...

[alanartmee-957-968398 · 10/10 · 30 August 2017]

This was a really unique independent film about an investigation into hurricane Katrina and why the 9th ward, the people and the houses were neglected and left to decay. Very timely as to relating to what is going on in Houston with Hurricane Harvey. It touches a lot of the issues we are facing today with levees not working and corruption that seems to be permeating everywhere. The lead Juliette Bennett is tremendous in carrying us through her journey to uncover what is a lie, what is the truth and what is the supernatural. The entire cast is outstanding. I Loved it!

Put this on your "must watch" list

[cookie-828-979291 · 7/10 · 1 November 2017]

Finally someone wrote a story about Katrina. The story line was interesting and informative. The lead actress, Juliette Bennet, as well as all the actors gave grounded, believable performances. The story drew me in and I had to know what came next. I couldn't predict the outcome, which is very refreshing in the world of screen writing. It's amazing to watch such a good film and know it is a low budget indie.

Terrible acting, worse dialogue

[callmaggievita · 1/10 · 24 March 2020]

What a waste of time this move was. Loaded with horror cliches, awkwardly bad dialogue, mediocre acting, and only one saving grace: the too-few scenic shots of New Orleans and San Francisco. Don't recommend unless you've exhausted all other options.

A Shocker

[ansell-72879 · 2/10 · 23 September 2020]

The Nth (sic) Ward shocks as well but it is not a virtue. There are at least 8 elements to consider when reviewing a film. Nth Ward fails on all of them but let's only consider a handful.

Characterization - The acting part of the film. James Harvey Ward comes closest to breathing life into Kitch, his character, but the whole reconstructed sensitive new age red neck thing just doesn't quite ring true. He is all utes and flannelette shirts whilst at the same time worrying about Juliette Bennett's shoes getting dirty. Still he is working with what the writers gave him and is sort of plausible. Juliette Bennett has the same shoddy writing to work with but simply can't rise to the challenge. Dialogue delivery is stilted and lacking credibility. It is possible to fill a column about Bennet's on screen presence but let's concentrate on one tell tale trait. She doesn't know what to do with her hands! Scene after scene sees her fumbling with her hands just not quite certain as what to do with them. It's sort of embarrassingly painful to watch and the benchmark of her ability as displayed in this film.

Plot - There is no plot. There are several unrelated and disjointed subplots. These include the supernatural, corrupt business dealings, environmental issues, a budding romance, an inter-racial family drama and so on. None of these is adequately explored or developed and make for a disjointed, fragmented and ultimately unsatisfying whole.

Setting - It's New Orleans for goodness sake! I know that it is post-Katrina but still, it's The Big Easy. Nth Ward could have been set anywhere. Apart from one of the many subplots concerning Voodoo and some footage of a brass band nothing of exotic, sweaty, historical, exciting, culturally rich, mysterious New Orleans makes it on to the screen. New Orleans itself contributes little or nothing to the film and this a sinful omission.

A Shocker

[ansell-72879 · 2/10 · 22 September 2020]

Bad Boy Bubby is a film that can shock. This is one of its virtues. Nth (sic) Ward shocks as well but it is not a virtue. There are at least 8 elements to consider when reviewing a film. Nth Ward fails on all of them but let's only consider a handful.

Characterisation - The acting part of the film. James Harvey Ward comes closest to breathing life into Kitch, his character, but the whole reconstructed sensitive new age red neck thing just doesn't quite ring true. He is all flannelette shirts whilst at the same time worrying about Juliette Bennett's shoes getting dirty. Still he is working with what the writers gave him and is sort of plausible. Juliette Bennett has the same shoddy writing to work with but simply can't rise to the challenge. Dialogue delivery is stilted and lacking credibility. It is possible to fill a column about Bennet's on screen presence but let's concentrate on one tell tale trait. She doesn't know what to do with her hands! Scene after scene sees her fumbling with her hands just not quite certain as what to do with them. It's sort of embarrassingly painful to watch and the benchmark of her ability as displayed in this film.

Plot - There is no plot. There are several unrelated and disjointed subplots. These include the supernatural, corrupt business dealings, environmental issues, a budding romance, an inter-racial family drama and so on. None of these is adequately explored or developed and make for a disjointed, fragmented and ultimately unsatisfying whole.

Setting - It's New Orleans for goodness sake! I know that it is post-Katrina but still, it's The Big Easy. Nth Ward could have been set anywhere. Apart from one of the many subplots concerning Voodoo and some footage of a brass band nothing of exotic, sweaty, historical, exciting, culturally rich, mysterious New Orleans makes it on to the screen. New Orleans itself contributes little or nothing to the film and this a sinful omission.

And on we could go.

Nth Ward doesn't present shocks but it is a shocker.

Oh, and to those who have awarded this movie 10s, this is not helpful. It means that you are pegging Nth Ward at the same level as Angel Heart which utilized New Orleans beautifully, starred Robert de Nero and Mickey Rourke at their peak and saw Lisa Bonet break through as an great performer. Angel Heart is everything that Nth Ward isn't. This is an empirical reality but you are denying it.

Very Creative Script with some terrific acting!

[rinaldi-19134 · 9/10 · 19 September 2017]

12 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and especially the Ninth Ward-the largest of the seventeen Wards, the film explores this anomaly of the 9th Ward never being rebuilt. The leads in this movie were terrific. Juliette Bennett and James Harvey Ward were both terrific and had a genuine on screen chemistry. Great plot and unexpected voodoo twists abound. Definitely worth watching.

Surprising

[myers-56121 · 7/10 · 9 April 2020]

I read the all the negative reviews and decided to go with my gut. I found this to be a diamond in the rough. It's not quite as suspenseful as the trailers made it to seem. But It was surprisingly good in other ways. I have watched other movies with 5 star ratings that when they were over I say to myself that's an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back. c Check I think it may make you think twice about listening to reviews!

Artful thriller set in New Orleans

[mvogel-53793 · 8/10 · 23 October 2017]

This is a creepy movie set in New Orleans. The director does a very convincing job of showing political corruption surrounding parts of the city that weren't rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. The highlight was the lead actor, Juliette Bennett, who plays a serious scientist. The supernatural elements to the film were a bit bizarre and contributed to my feeling of unease while watching the film. The movie is very artfully shot and makes one want to visit New Orleans. Worth seeing this thriller!

Dear "I Lived It"

[the_nephilim71 · 10/10 · 25 November 2018]

This is what's called a supernatural horror movie and it's NOT supposed to be on facts. PS: I also lived through Katrina and LOVE this movie.