Beacon Point

Interesting concept. Poorly executed. Unlikeable one dimensional characters making one bad decision after another. Wanted to like them but couldn't; especially the female lead. The person I was rooting for was the trail guide. And I don't think that was the writer's intent. Could have been better.

"you seemed upset last time we met" "it was dad's funeral" i swear that was not supposed to be funny.

This isn't a "bad" film but it just lacks a compelling plot to keep you engaged and walking. It starts out fine as we meet the characters and they start the hike, but I think there really isn't enough conflict between them to keep it interesting. Drake, the hike leader, is a little too underwritten of the characters. He has a secret--which we know--but he acts so nasty to everyone (instead of being a nice guy) that it sort of undermines the surprise of who he is.

The acting across the board is fine, but I sense there was a lot of padding. At the 30 min mark, when we should be deep into the plot, it's still sort of aimless. And since not much of interest is going on, I was sort of bored. Kept watching, but even when the alien aspect was introduced, it still didn't goose the plot. Everything just settled back into the plodding narrative.

It's then I checked and saw I was 55 mins into it with only about 25 mins left! So yes, it's a short film, but if they can't keep me watching an hour into it, something is missing--my interest. So I stopped and looked for something else to watch.

An eager group of misfits are led into the forest by a ranger previously convicted of manslaughter, and who has just had the misfortune of repeating the crime after a disagreement and shoving match with the head ranger. I'm not really sure what was going on, but it involves ancient evil. Can't really say much more about it here without containing spoilers. Couple of things of note, there (refreshingly) isn't much profanity, maybe none? And the violence isn't overly gory, except for a couple of scenes. Perhaps not the best movie for younger viewers. It's a bit plodding for a while, then it holds your interest, then you kind of find out what's going on. Could've easily been a 7 or 8. The girl was pretty good, and I liked Dan.

External frame backpacks, boots instead of trail runners, inappropriate clothing, and other technical flaws makes this a poor film from the start-or perhaps should have been set in the 1980s. The film wanders around with no point, and has a murky conclusion.