Loner

This was a film that I was able to see thanks to the Raindance Film Festival via screener. It made its world premiere at this festival as well. What I knew coming in was that this was horror and that it had a cool poster. Seeing as this is a 2025 release, it is another one that I could add to my list for independent films.

Synopsis: an aspiring vlogger goes on a wilderness retreat to a cabin in the woods, where he is held captive by an ancient, natural force.

We start this with beautiful establishing shots of where this takes place. It is in the woods. We're in the United Kingdom. Angus Mattock (Charlie Robb) spammed an Instagram account and won a trip to a cabin. When we see it, it feels similar to a tiny house. It takes time for him to hike to it. It should be noted that on his way, he passes Eve Compton (Kat Johns-Burke).

He makes it and then settles in for the night. What is interesting is that he's out here to take a break from social media. What we'll learn later is that he experienced a tragedy. He's getting away, but what is interesting is that he's setting up cameras as he's going to make a vlog about surviving in the wilderness. He's going to 'rough' it while not truly living off the land.

Things take a dark turn though. When he's recording wilderness, he hears spooky things. It sounds like breathing, someone screaming and maybe even a growling. He thinks that he also sees something out there with him but he can't confirm. He has his night interrupted when Eve bangs on the door. She begs to be let in. She says there's something after her. Angus is terrified and tells her he can't. She then has to run into the darkness.

Angus goes for a hike where he finds blood on leaves. This path leads to a cave. There are these strange rocks that he keeps finding. He does find Eve's backpack and looks through it. Angus has his ax and food taken. The cabin is also ransacked. Things aren't as they seem and there could be something else out here with him. Or maybe there's another explanation.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start then is that this is an interesting character study. What I like is that there are little things that we learn about Angus at intervals to help form who he is. It starts like the synopsis says, he's an aspiring vlogger. I got the idea that life got stagnant or he just wanted to try this out. He's following in the footsteps of people who've done it before him, so there's that copycat feel. What's great though, he hasn't practiced survival skills and he's not good at them either. This is where the dark elements creep in.

Sticking with Angus, what pushed him to come out here is tragic. I believe it was his girlfriend or if not, he wanted her to be. She was killed and he's struggling. I would be too. It feels like he's trying to make the best of life and not waste more time. There's an element that being alone with your thoughts drives him deeper into depression as well as insanity. When Eve comes to him in the night for help, he panics and shuts down. Part of this could come from living in the city. We are more distrustful. I do think that Robb is good in this role. Something I haven't even brought up is that he makes the character likeable. He is funny so we do feel something when things look bleak which is good.

Now let's then shift over to talking about where this is set. In the middle of the woods can be terrifying. He can't easily get away. He's also traveling alone so if something happens to him, then he might not be found for a while. There also could be something supernatural going on. He tries to leave and get back to his car. That could just be that he got turned around as the woods are disorienting. We do see something weird happen when he writes a note on his drone and tries to fly it out. It gets to a certain place and then malfunctions. Coupling this with the sounds, it makes me think there's something supernatural going on. It doesn't help that he finds a book that Eve has where things are lining up to an entity that was thought to live in these woods. That gives it almost a folk horror vibe. There are logical explanations for these things, but I love allowing us a viewer to come to our conclusion. The ending though is interesting while leaning, at least partially, into explaining what is happening.

What I think helps make this effective is filmmaking. The cinematography and framing to capture the woods are great. It feels like we're in the middle of nowhere. That helps to build an atmosphere. I'll also credit the sound design. The nature sounds are real. Then incorporating in these other things that we don't know if we're truly hearing them or not adds to it. It can be unnerving. Now this is limited to the effects used but it also doesn't need them. There are moments where Angus gets hurt and it looks real, including getting the head of an arrow in his foot. That made me cringe.

Since we have a limited cast here and it mostly featuring Robb, I'll just briefly say that Johns-Burke is solid. She shows good terror the night she's looking for help. She does become this specter that Angus is looking for. I do think the other characters work for what they're needed to push our lead to where he ends up.

In conclusion, this is an interesting little found-footage film. It feels inspired by the Blair Witch Project and lore that gets developed as that series goes on. This is a character study of our lead, Angus. He makes a tough decision one night and then we see him descend into madness from grief, isolation and guilt. I do like that there is a potential supernatural angle here. Robb's performance as the lead was good. The rest of the cast push him to where he ends up. This is made well with the cinematography, framing and sound design. This is a bit slower of a burn so keep that in mind ahead of seeing this. I rather enjoyed my time here and would recommend giving this a watch.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.