Tags:
Film: Terroir
Year: 2025
Director: Casey Rogerson
Writer: Casey Rogerson
Starring: Madison Hu, Leenya Rideout and Naomi Rubin
Review:
This was a screener that I got the chance to see thanks to Karen from K.O. PR. Seeing that this was a horror short that was doing festival rounds, I was intrigued. I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize this was a short until I settled in to watch. Now I did know from the limited information I saw, that it would be about wine. Other than that, I came into this blind.
Synopsis: a young wine critic returns to a French vineyard one year after giving a bad review. There, she and her friends become the target of a masked killer.
We start this at a wine tasting. Kirsta (Madison Hu) is the wine critic from the synopsis. Her mother is the editor and chief of the publication that she works for. Due to that, Kirsta takes advantage of bringing her two friends, Rebecca (Naomi Rubin) and Oliver (John R. Howley), on these trips to France to do tasting at vineyards.
This vineyard they came to last year and had it rented last of the ones they visited. Something has drastically changed. They’re impressed with the wine. Kirsta wants to check out the grapes to see if she can see anything. There has been a change to the terroir. What they don’t realize is there is a specific reason why they were invited back. Madame Laurent (Leenya Rideout) and her son Pierre (João Santos) have revenge on their mind.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters for this short. Where I want to start is how I judge these. They tend to fall into two camps. The first is that they could be fleshed out into a larger concept or do they tell a complete story. In my opinion, this is the latter. We get our setup, learn more about our group that we’re following as well as enough about our hosts, before there the revenge plot is put into motion. I wanted to give credit to the team for that.
Now that I have that set up, let’s look at our group. Kirsta, Rebecca, and Oliver are obnoxious but knowledgeable about wine. They exploit the vineyards and Kirsta’s editor mother to take free wine vacations. The title, "Terroir," is a French word (sounding like "terror" and used for comedy) for environmental factors—soil, climate, and topography—that go into influencing wine. There is an interesting hint at an upcoming reveal as well.
Then to look at the hosts, Mmd Laurent and Pierre have funny introductions. They just appear and it spooks our group. They then disappear. Our group is looking for them and since they aren’t around, they go out to look at the vineyards. I do like that it gets eerie when Kirsta asks Oliver to check out a nearby barn. From there is when the horror ramps up. Something interesting to also include is that our group tells their version of a story from the year prior. We then hear from the hosts for their variation.
That should be enough for the story so let’s get over to the acting performances. Hu, Rubin and Howley are good as this entitled group of what I’m guessing are Gen Zers. They are taking advantage and it is interesting what happens to them. What I’ll say is that they don’t truly believe there are consequences to their actions. Rideout and Santos are also good in their roles. Everyone here brings to the table what is needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking aspects. The cinematography and framing are good. They’re able to capture that this vineyard is old. The building where they’re doing the tasting has character. The effects that we get are limited. What we do get to see is good though. I like the color of the blood. It is funny because it looks like a rich, dark wine and that is something that gets played for comedy. We don’t see the kills, but the aftereffects work. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed.
In conclusion, this is an effective horror short that succeeds by delivering a complete, satisfying narrative arc within its limited runtime. The film cleverly uses the pretentiousness of its main characters—and the double meaning of its title—to build suspense and dark comedy. While the kills are implied, the strong performances from Hu, Rubin, Howley as the entitled guests, and Rideout and Santos as the avenging hosts, carry the narrative. Paired with fitting cinematography and a strong commitment to its central theme, Terroir proves that a short film can offer a sharp, darkly amusing, and fully realized piece of horror cinema.
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10