Films are great, but movies based on real-life tales are better. After all, who can forget how James Wan’s The Conjuring became a box office juggernaut in the horror genre because it was marketed based on a true story?
Matt Sobel’s Take Me to the River handles themes of homosexuality and coming out to the family in a dark and sinister way. There’s way more going on in the family reunion that Ryder and his family head to in Nebraska. So, is it based on a true story as well?
No, Take Me to the River (2015), directed and written by Matt Sobel, isn’t based on a true story. Sobel got the idea for the film from a nightmare he had while at a family reunion. However, he has referenced some real-life tidbits in his movie. One is that he, too, has extended family in Nebraska, just like the protagonist does. Also, his grandmother owned plots of land, as Ryder’s grandparents did.
Is the River Movie Based on a True Story?
Take Me to the River is a film with multiple shades. It deliberately keeps things vague in a way that might make many think that director and writer Matt Sobel is trying to tell a deeply personal story while ensuring he doesn’t totally air the dirty family laundry.
However, that assumption isn’t totally true. Take Me to the River isn’t based on any true story. Sobel got the idea when he had a nightmare at a family reunion. But there are reflections of his personal life and experiences in the movie.
For one, just like the protagonist Ryder, Sobel grew up in California while having a family in Nebraska. Also, his grandmother owned a farm, and he used this real-life fact as a backdrop for this film.
So there are little tidbits from his personal life that he integrated into the movie to give it a more grounded and realistic feeling, but the film’s plot didn’t happen to him or his family in real life.
In an interview with Filmdoo, he once said:
“I do want to stress though that nothing remotely this dramatic or traumatic ever happened at one of my actual family reunions. The goal wasn’t to recreate reality, but to recreate the feeling of the nightmare.”
He certainly succeeded in making audiences feel like they are at the family reunion with Ryder and his family but as outsiders. So, they (or we) don’t quite understand the family dynamics and history.
What Is the Story Behind the Movie Take Me to the River?
Take Me to the River is written and directed by Matt Sobel. The film tackles various issues and themes while never outright defining or concluding them. One of the film’s major themes is its protagonist Ryder trying to come out as gay to his conservative Nebraska extended family.
His mother, Cindy, advises him to keep his secret because they might not accept or understand him. But Ryder is determined not to hide from his family anymore. Apart from this, the other central theme of the film is implied sexual abuse by siblings.
It’s implied that the game of Chicken Fighting, where one sibling, generally a boy, puts the other sibling, a girl, on his shoulders to fight another similar pair in a river, means something sinister in the family.
Although no concrete answers are given, it’s hinted that Ryder’s mom Cindy used to sexually hump her older brother Keith in their childhood while playing the game of Chicken Fighting. However, since Keith was older, the blame got passed on to him.
When Keith’s daughter Molly goes off to a barn with Ryder and returns with a bloody dress, he thinks that his nephew sexually assaulted his daughter just like his mother did to him.
However, at the end of the film, Molly humps Ryder’s neck while on his shoulders, making viewers wonder- from where did Molly learn this sexualized version of the game? From her father?
So is Keith grooming or abusing his daughter? Or does young Molly have an older boyfriend? None of these answers are ever given. As such, it makes viewers wonder how much of this disturbing story is rooted in reality.
Turns out that none of the plot points or themes connect to Matt Sobel’s life or family- past or present. The writer and director of the film got the idea during a nightmare he had while at a family reunion, and he fleshed that out into the 2015 film that’s now available to be watched.
However, there are precisely two elements that Sobel incorporated into the film from his life. One is that he is from California with family in Nebraska, where the film is set. Two is that his grandmother owned large plots of land, used as the backdrop of Take Me to the River.
Why Was Molly’s Dress Blood in Take Me to the River?
In Take Me to the River, protagonist Ryder, a gay man, forms an attachment to his young cousin Molly. One day, both of them go to the barn, and when Molly comes out, her dress is bloodied. Aspersions are immediately cast upon Ryder as the family thinks he sexually assaulted her.
As a result, he is isolated from the family even though his mom believes that he didn’t do anything that would hurt his young cousin. But later on, it’s pretty much proved that Ryder didn’t do anything. However, the question remains- why was Molly’s dress bloody?
In the movie, it’s posited that Molly might have started her periods, resulting in her dress getting bloodied. But this reasoning is never again brought up in the film, so maybe she didn’t get her periods.
Apart from this, viewers think that the bloody dress was just a gimmick or a MacGuffin used to bring out the deep-seated family issues related to implied sexual abuse amongst siblings. Another fan theory states that Molly is a mentally challenged girl who likes Ryder.
Her father, Keith, wanted to get back at his sister, Cindy, for making it seem like he was the one who was sexually inappropriate with her in their childhood rather than the other way around. So to take revenge and make his sister feel what he felt years back, he orchestrated the entire barn incident with his young daughter and Ryder, along with the bloody dress.
Where Was the Movie Take Me to the River Filmed?
Take Me to the River, directed and written by Matt Sobel, was filmed in Loup City, Nebraska, USA, along with several other locations in the surrounding area. The film’s plot is also set in Nebraska, so the production expectedly took place there.
What are your thoughts about the story of Take Me to the River?
Why do you think there was blood on Molly’s dress? Did Cindy and Keith have an incestuous relationship that resulted in Ryder and maybe Molly?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Filmdoo
