I was fortunate to see this film on the big screen at a film festival, and it wholly engrossed every member of the audience start to finish. Setting the somewhat unnerving, though also appealing, night-time scene of a father taking his son out to the woods to reconnect and enjoy nature while the mother, unseen though heard on a phone message, conveys her worries about them being alone out there. Unfortunately for Paul Bullion's character Duncan, he begins to see and hear signs of them not being so alone. Sitting by the campfire, their gorgeous, family dog Oscar starts to demonstrate signs of an intruder of some sort creeping through the woods: barking, territorial behaviour, and he soons runs out to find it. Duncan, unsettled and only getting more so as he hears his dog's whimpers, barks and interation with whatever is out there, swiftly pulls out the rifle he has in his car. The flames of the campfire are still flickering, his son sleeping beside him, his dog out in the woods trying to protect them... Actor Bullion's palpable fear, his protective instincts, his indecision as to how to handle this situation... his performance is relatable, real and layered. Without revealing spoilers, the situation goes from bad to a heck of a lot worse..
It's extremely well shot, the suspense is perfectly created, and the performances entirely believable. As a dog lover, this film had me particularly unsettled and the final shot, with certain glowing eyes, will be burned into my retinas for a long while: terrifying.
Recommended watching, just, maybe not with a dog next to you....
