Beyond the Woods

What I couldn't reconcile with this film was why it had a low rating score and yet had several wins in the awards circuit. So I decided to make up my own mind about it. Firstly this is an ensemble cast of 3 main actors who for the most part do a sterling job with a scant dialogue script. They create an air of tension and frustration around a murder and missing person. Steven Roberts plays Andrew Bennett a solitary widower living in an isolated snowbound area close to a forest. Roberts finds a convincing balance between giving off a caring persona and a cruel individual. Jeff Evans-Todd plays Jack Rogers the brother-in-law of Bennett. Prior to his sister's funeral, Jack visits Bennett to support him through his grief. However, finding evidence that not all seems as it is, he has no option than to confront Bennett. The camera work captures the austere landscape and the severe climate which adds to the hopelessness of Jack's situation. This isn't a gun toting, ultra violent action movie but a slow burn that builds the narrative and tension gradually. It's probably more a 5 to 6 rating but I rated it 7 as the low score ratings here are unjustified.

I viewed this film at a festival in Vancouver, BC and was transfixed from the start. The word that comes to mind, first and foremost, when I think of this film is... REAL.

It is not a flashy action movie. There are no jump scares or moments of hilarity... this film tells a real story about life and one that we all could EASILY find ourselves in.

Believe me.

We are all just a few poor choices away from this.

I was engrossed. I enjoyed this and I hated it at the same time. Because it was real.

Definitely not perfect, which is why I have rated this a 8/10. At times the screenplay is on the nose and the dialogue drags... but so does life.

This is worth watching.

In a few scenes, I literally laughed out loud at how slow and brooding this movie is. So in that sense, it's almost worth watching just for that: sort of like "It's so bad that it's good". The script must have been approximately one paragraph worth of dialogue and action: the rest of the movie involves the camera in one angle for untold minutes while characters say approximately three words per minute, they sit or stand. I only made it 40 minutes in before giving up, and I don't give up on movies. I guess it was worth the laughs though.

How this was described as a 'thriller' is beyond my comprehension: a thriller (in my mind anyway) being a film that provides either tension or a cunning twist in the plot. This film has neither - in fact, it was about as thrilling as a snail on valium and moved at roughly the same pace. The dialogue was almost non-existent, the scenery, for the most part, was bleak, and it felt low-budget on every level. Then there was the ending... in my view, if you are going to bore someone silly for the best part of 2 hours, you should, at the very least, have the decency to provide a definitive ending. But nay, nay - we didn't even get that. Very disappointed.

A character in the movie was not the only person tortured- it was torturous watching this movie. Too bad it had potential.