Master Gardener

Narvel Roth works as the head horticulturist at Gracewood Gardens, a historic estate owned by the wealthy widow Norma Haverhill. He keeps to a strict routine, tending the grounds and attending to his employer's wishes while living under self-imposed rules meant to atone for a violent past. That order is disturbed when Mrs. Haverhill insists he take on her troubled great-niece, Maya Core, as an apprentice. Maya arrives with problems of her own, and the arrangement draws Narvel into a situation that threatens to expose what he has tried to leave behind, while also stirring feelings between the two. The film is a crime drama with elements of mystery, thriller and romance.

Paul Schrader wrote and directed the film, the twentieth of the twenty-two features he has directed in chronological order, following The Card Counter and preceding Oh, Canada. Joel Edgerton plays Narvel, with Sigourney Weaver as Norma Haverhill, Quintessa Swindell as Maya Core, Esai Morales as Oscar Neruda, Eduardo Losan as Xavier and Victoria Hill as Isobel Phelps. Thirty cast members and sixty-five crew members are credited.

Made for about four million dollars, the film took in roughly two million at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds 6.1 out of 10 from around 13,000 votes, and on TMDB 6 out of 10 from 357 votes. A critics' rating of 6.5 out of 10 from 184 reviews places it somewhat above the audience scores on both sites.