Title – The Biggest Little Farm (2018)

Director – John Chester (Rock Prophecies)

Cast – John Chester, Molly Chester, Mr. Greasy, Emma

Plot – Documentarian John Chester and his wife Molly film their dream journey of operating a sustainable farm that will take them on adventures they never thought possible.

“This all started with a promise that we would leave the big city and build a life in perfect harmony with nature”

Review by Eddie on 28/05/2020

There is nothing ground-breaking about The Biggest Little Farm, a lovingly crafted personal film from its creator and voice John Chester that lacks nuances of storytelling, but this beautifully shot and well-meaning documentary is the perfect comfort food viewing that will bring a smile to the face of the most cold-hearted of viewers.

Following the story of Chester and his wife Molly, who after being inspired by a 4-legged friend they decided to adopt, finally set about on their shared dream of running a sustainable farm; a farm at one with nature and forgoing the many more man-made elements of modern farming, with Farm documenting over 7 years worth of trials and tribulations the Chester’s faced to see their vision become a workable reality.

There’s no surprises to be found in the sense that the Chester’s find themselves realizing farm life on their new 200 plus hectare farm an hour outside of Los Angeles isn’t the dream experience they always imagined and its a testament to Chester that his focus throughout his narrated tale doesn’t shy away from the facts that farming this way isn’t the easiest of options as he and his team battle pests, deaths and a range of issues as they look to turn a seemingly dead landscape into the paradise they envisioned.

There’s never a lot of time spent developing the human players inside of this story but the ace up Farm’s sleeve is the ability of Chester and his abundance of helpers have in capturing the nature side of Farm’s world with the animals, the landscape and the world in which they operate in, making for some heartwarming and heartbreaking moments in a film that should be watched with the whole family in mind.

From stunning night-time shots, beautifully captured insect filmography and documentation of a colorful pig named Emma and a resourceful rooster named Mr. Greasy, Farm is filled to the brim with color and energy courtesy of its non-talking inhabitants and with their help, its not hard to be inspired to take a sit back and ponder the joys of nature when it’s allowed to flourish outside of man’s constant meddling and the Chester’s journey is one that will inspire you to take the time to smell the roses of the world in which we live in.

Final Say – 

Not trying to make any big impact statements or ground-breaking revelations, The Biggest Little Farm is a simplistic yet often heart-warming documentary of a sustainable world you will wish you could spend some quality time in.

3 1/2 snails out of 5