Beyond the Woods

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.

Really slow at the start and doesn't accelerate too much. I was tempted to turn off almost instantly but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. This then lead to me feeling that I had to finish just because I had started, not because I was particularly entertained or engrossed.

Felt very low budget and some of the scenes were unbelievably long in one shot and dragged out with very little dialogue.

The emotion felt a little forced, the acting was not entirely believable and Andrew was trying too hard, it just came across as boring.

The music was too loud over the dialogue.

A couple of positives though, I did start to feel empathy for Jack and his scenes especially with his sister were the highlights.

However, I would definitely not endure again.

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.

The Story is pointless. 10 mins in you already know how the movie ends. The movie is so slow that you might as well be watching paint dry. Can't think of a single good thing to say about this movie. The only reason I watched to the end was because all along I was thinking that this movie can't be this bad, there must be some really intelligent twist at the end which will totally make watching it worthwhile. I was wrong and I lost almost 2 hours of my life for absolutely nothing. Don't make the same mistake!

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.