Joanne Kelly and Neal Huff in Runoff (Monterey Media)

Set during an Indian summer (filmed in Kentucky), Runoff is a visually stunning look at modern farming life. The lyrical film is also a wonderful examination of big business’s increasing strangle on small farmers and the relationship between man and nature,  but it’s the family’s story that makes the drama so moving.

We first see Betty (Joanne Kelly) as she gathers honey on the farm she owns with her husband, Frank (Neal Huff). He administers antibiotics and pesticides to local farms. They have two sons: Sam (Kivlighan de Montebello), a precocious elementary schooler, and  Finley (Win Win’s Alex Shafer), a teenage artistic misfit, who’s less than interested in going to tech school as his father wishes. (Frank dismisses that idea, as though Finley is “too good for real work.”) All in all, though, the family has a pleasant life. Despite Finley’s rebellious acts of smoking pot and some underlying friction, it’s clear the teen loves his family, and Betty and Frank are still crazy for each other after years of marriage.

Throwing a wrench into the happy home life is the big business company Gigas. The corporation is taking work away from Frank, and the family struggles to make enough to keep their farm. To make matters more dire, Frank has an unidentified ailment. With doctor’s payments added to their lists of costs, Frank and Betty make offers to local friends and businessmen, but Gigas has a strong hold on the community. One farmer, Scratch (Tom Bower), offers Frank some cash in exchange for illegally dumping expired chemicals into the nearby river; Scratch claim it’s too expensive to get rid of them following procedure. Frank refuses the underhanded dealing, but with the bank threatening to take the farm away and Frank becoming more ill, Betty considers the offer. The effects of it are manifold and lead to an intense conclusion set on Halloween night.

Writer and director Kimberly Levin creates a visually idyllic and pastoral world, which slowly begins to hint at the sinister power of corrupted nature. Frank’s illness, along with a neighbor getting sick after playing by the nearby river, suggests that these chemicals have been affecting those who come in contact with them long before the film begins. Never dwelling on grimness, Levin chooses to focus the camera on the beautiful landscape and the river. The danger is kept out of sight. It’s a subtle dig at the nature of food production in America, and by the end, it’s a powerful one.

Joanne Kelly, as the cool and steady Betty, truly holds Runoff together as a dramatic narrative. Betty’s constant juggling between taking care of the farm, her husband, and her sons is credibly portrayed. Her relationship with Finley is particularly heartwarming. She manages to connect with him as his mother and as a friend. With solid performances and a complex look at the state of the small family farm, Runoff is a captivating piece and a fine directorial debut.