KRATT is brought to us by writer/director Rasmus Merivoo. KRATT stars Mari Lill as grandma (she’s incredible, I can’t say that enough), Nora and Harri Merivoo (surprisingly good, except for the crying scene) as the children, and Ivo Uukkivi as the Governor who’s given up on life.
KRATT is weird. KRATT is funny. KRATT is a mix of old and new. But it’s not a kid’s movie. It’s a weird adult movie about old traditions and new technology.
KRATT begins with the parents of Mia and Kevin dropping them off at their grandmother’s house for some time without the kids or the grandma knowing about the arrangement. The kids wake up to find themselves with their grandma who (gasp) lives in the country. With chickens and apple trees! And expects them to work!
They grow close despite this, but when grandma tells them the legend of the KRATT, a creature created to bring you gold and do your work, they can’t help but be intrigued. However, the KRATT is a creature made from a pact with the devil and is, of course, just a fairytale. The kids don’t heed the warning and decide to create their own KRATT to help around grandma’s house. But in a turn of events, they get their Governor involved, and accidentally grandma is turned into the creature!
How can they turn her back? Can they save her soul? And how can they do it all in time before their parents come back to pick them up?
So, KRATT is weird. It’s very quirky. I don’t watch many Estonian movies, so I’m coming at this with fresh eyes. I’m assuming this is part of their humor, not as dry as Norwegian, which I’m more familiar with but good, sweet Lord not the abysmal humor of Mother Schmuckers. KRATT swings between genuinely funny, but also confusing. Probably because it has too many plots.
KRATT is not really about the kids in its entirety. It’s also about the Governor, Russia, and the Americans. Oh and deforestation. But if you’re wondering if it has a depressed Governor helicopter his wiener, it does. If it has a little person sucking blood, it does. If it has a weird barfing cult, yes, yes it does. And a priest who wants to do an exorcism with a drone (which got a good laugh out of me).
All this and more. And honestly, it was too much. It should have just been the kids and maybe the Governor, if him at all. KRATT was kind of everywhere and maybe if I knew the culture better, I could say that having all of the different story points made sense. But as a casual observer, the Russians and Americans could have been cut out. The super Estonian computer could be cut.
But if you like folktales and old-meets-new horror comedies, I’d recommend it. It’s something fun and different for a US audience. There are moments of good comedy, the acting by grandma is incredible, the kids are super fun, and you can tell a lot of care was put into the movie.
And you don’t even have to whistle at a crossroad at midnight for it to appear, all you have to do is stream it.
The Estonian dark comedy is now available on a number of digital and cable platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, iNDemand and DISH.
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