- Directed by Adam MacDonald
- Written by Adam MacDonald
- Stars Jeff Roop, Missy Peregrym, Nicholas Campbell, Eric Balfour
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46uwmzTf5nA
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s “Open Water” only in the woods. Hiking is fun and the woods are peaceful until you get lost. And a persistent bear decides you’re food. It’s a little predictable, but it’s well made and manages to be thoroughly horrifying.
Synopsis
We open in the woods as flies swarm around something. We cut to Alex and Jenn loading their car for a trip. In the car, they play “rate your boyfriend” from a woman’s magazine. He sings some horrible music that actually cheers her up. Credits roll.
They arrive at the park and check in with the ranger, who warns that this is the end of the season, and the crowds are getting sparse. Blackwood Trail, the trail Alex wanted to take, is closed due to vandals. The ranger warns there could be a thousand dollar fine if they get caught on that trail. Alex doesn’t want a map because he knows the area well. The two of them get into a canoe and head out to wherever they’re going.
When they get to the trail, Jenn shows Alex that she has bear spray. He also injured his ankle getting out of the boat. She’s brought all kinds of stuff, “Just in case.” He laughs, “You know we’ll be lucky to see anything bigger than a chipmunk, right?”
They eventually find a spot and put their tent up. They’re wearing jackets and have a warm campfire, but he wants to go skinny dipping. It looks cold and uninviting, but they go through with it. We get the impression from her expressions that Jenn doesn’t really want to be there; this is her first camping trip.
They run into some guy named Brad on the trail. He’s a little weird, but they invite him to stay and eat with them. Brad’s a wilderness tour guide. Paul knows some places that are off “the tourist trail” that he offers to show them. Alex doesn’t like or trust Brad, but Jenn thinks he’s interesting. Brad leaves, and Alex and Jenn argue about the guy after he goes.
The next morning, Alex tells Jenn all about the trail and how much time he spent here growing up. They go off-trail for a bit, and Alex’s foot starts bothering him again. That night, Alex takes his sock off, and his foot isn’t doing so well– he pulls off his toenail. Fortunately, Jenn packed a bunch of first-aid stuff.
After they go to bed, Jenn hears something outside. She wakes Alex up, and they listen. “It’s nothing,” he insists.
It was not nothing. They find many broken branches in the morning. Jenn wants to go home, but he wants to push through to their destination. They continue on the trail, but Jenn smells something strange. She checks it out and finds a dead deer, torn apart and half-eaten.
They get to the lake, and the lake isn’t there. He reminds Jenn that they don’t have a map. Jenn looks for her phone, but Alex left it in the car because he didn’t want her to use it. They argue, and she calls him a loser who messes up everything. Alex says the plan was to propose to her at the lake that they can’t find.
They decide to make camp and try to find their way back to the trail in the morning. There’s a thunderstorm that night. As they sleep, we hear a bear outside rummaging around. Their food is gone in the morning, and Alex blames a racoon.
They pass a “bear bed” as they walk and decide they’d better press on. That night, the two make up after their argument, but then they hear footsteps in the wood and hide in their tent.
Morning rolls around yet again, and Alex proclaims “We are going to be OK.” The bear is parked just outside their tent. Jenn pulls out her bear spray, and then the bear comes inside the tent. The bear bites Alex in the leg and claws Jenn’s arm before Jenn gets a chance to drive it away with the spray.
Alex screams in pain as Jenn wraps his leg, but almost immediately, the bear comes back and drags Alex into the woods. Jenn takes off running once she is sure that Alex is very, very dead. She doesn’t get very far before she falls and knocks herself out.
She climbs a tree and passes out for a while, when she wakes up, Jenn finds a steam and gets a drink finally; she left everything back at the ruined tent. She spots the bear again, and this time it chases her. She climbs down a waterfall and falls down, breaking or spraining her leg badly. She splints it and finds a stick to use as a crutch. She passes out again.
When she wakes up, she spots a deer right in front of her. She limps on and comes to the river where they parked their canoe. She painfully climbs in and pushes off. She eventually manages to row back to the ranger station. Brad is there, organizing a tour group, and he runs over to help.
Commentary
Alex is an idiot. He doesn’t really know where he’s going and then refuses a free map.
The acting is good from the very small cast. The gore effects are pretty good, but we don’t really get to see a lot of the actual bear. The cinematography started out fairly straightforward, but as things progressed the shots grew shorter and burrier to make things feel more raw and confused.
It’s completely predictable, but it looks good and is well acted. If you want to see a film about a bear eating people, this is the one for you!