So, how do you think it is going with the legalization of cannabis? As “exotics” boutiques pop up with all the abundance and ubiquity of corporate chains like Dunkin’ and CVS, the streets of Manhattan have become notorious for the ever-present smell of marijuana. Granted, New York City has never been lacking in pungent odors, but for those of us who have remained unmoved by the pleasures of a random doobie, the dankification of our streets has proved, if not altogether intolerable, then close to it.

How all this plays out in terms of economics and sociology is outside of my purview, but the release of director Ariel Vida’s “Trim Season” is a marker of how everyday marijuana usage has become. Among the notable aspects of Ms. Vida’s “cannabis infused horror film” is the adoring manner in which Luka Bazeli’s camera pans over fields of marijuana, imbuing them with a golden haze that is somewhere between an idyllic landscape by Claude Lorrain and a Hallmark card. That, and our characters light up their blunts at the drop of a hat — morning, noon, and night. 

We have, in other words, come a long way since the alarmist hyperbole of “Reefer Madness” (1936), a cautionary opus that has long been a camp favorite. Then again, given what goes down in “Trim Season,” maybe not. Although much of the dialogue could’ve been lifted from an advisory pamphlet published by NORML — you remember, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — the overall gist of Ms. Vida’s picture is less than commendatory. Reefer, we learn, causes madness.

Bereft of the cannabis underpinnings, “Trim Season” is a conventional outing, the kind of thing that would’ve earned hoots-and-hollers at the drive-in or local grindhouse back in the day. Emma (Bethlehem Million) is a 20-year-old with not much on her plate: She’s unfocused, recently unemployed and four months behind on the rent. Best friend Julia (Alex Essoe, rangy and appealing) treats her to a night of clubbing, cocktails, and, yes, a dollop of skank.

While out on the town, Emma and Julia meet James (Mark Senter), a recruiter for a marijuana farm out in the highlands of California. When he finds out that our heroines are in need of cold hard cash, James suggests that they put in a couple of weeks as trimmers: that is to say, farmhands whose metier is the process of separating the wheat from the chaff, or something like it, anyway. The work is laborious, sticky, and tough on the hands, but the pay is good — particularly if you’re a Gen Zer in desperate straits.

Emma and Julia decide to hitch their fortunes to James, and meet up with a cadre of other young folks out to make a buck: the tough-as-nails Lex (Juliette Kenn De Balinthazy), the gender-indeterminate Dusty (Bex Taylor-Klaus), and Harriet (Ally Ioannides), who is, in equal parts, goofy and goth. James unceremoniously lumps them into the back of his van and brings them to an isolated ranch deep in the forest. Their accommodations are bare bones, the working conditions same, and the hours long. Yet they are catered to by the farm’s owner, the imperious and mysterious Mona (Jane Badler). She’s a shady piece-of-work, our Mona. Ms. Badler bites into the role with palpable relish.

What we have, then, is typical horror movie fodder: a bunch of stupid kids trapped in the woods with a crazy adversary. How crazy? When Harriet steals and subsequently smokes Mona’s private stash — well, suffice it to say that taking a toke of weed the color of blood isn’t a positive life decision. Once it becomes obvious that witchery is afoot, the chase is on.

Ms. Vida’s thriller is less inventive than it is enthusiastic, and even then, the picture lopes along in a manner that is semi-coherent and overwrought. Anyone who measures life in terms of trending memes will find it relevant and possibly rewarding. Genre fans out for a thrill may forgive the narrative’s convenient lapses in logic. 

If you’re not a member of the target audience, stay away. Still, as a signpost of how the times they are a-changin’, “Trim Season” is its own kind of marker.