Writer: Patricia Rozema (Screenplay) Jean Hegland (Novel)
Starring: Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie, Michael Eklund
Plot: After a massive power outage, two sisters learn to survive on their own in their isolated woodland home.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow Thriller
Story: Into the Forest starts as Robert (Rennie) and his daughters Nell (Page) and Eva (Wood) live in a remote house where humans rely on technology, but when the technology goes out the people struggle to cope. When Robert sees the ways the world has started to go he decides to keep the girls safe in the house until the power outage is over, but when he is killed in an accident, the girls must fend for themselves.
The girls learn how to fend for themselves as they are left to wonder where to go next with Nell’s boyfriend Eli (Minghella) offer a chance to go to Boston, but when the girls decide to stay they do learn the dark side of humanity while trying to survive.
Thoughts on Into the Forest
Characters/Performance – Nell is the elder sister that doesn’t want to stay waiting for everything to blow over but must take responsibility once her father dies, she fills the big sister role needing to keep everything together even when she has a chance to leave. Eva is the younger sister and once promising dancer, she wants to continue her dancing even without the power but must learn to be more responsible. The male characters all offer different visions on the good and bad in life when a power outage would happen.
Performance wise, I feel one of the big problem here is that Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood are nearly ten years older than the characters they are playing, this does make it harder to see the teenage nativity needed in the role but sadly this takes away the strength in the performance needed.
Story – The story does focus on what could happen if the world stopped have power, this could also help show us how the world could fall apart and not cope like it once did. This also doesn’t just give us the undead being a threat which is important as it is mostly about the struggle of what is meant to be two teenage girls through this sudden change. I think the story is refreshing even if it is slightly slow.
Sci-Fi/Thriller – The power is go and now the end of the world that creates us the sci-fi side of the story well, we also deal with wondering just what will be thrown at the girls next for the thrilling side of things.
Settings – The film is set mostly in and around the home in the forest which gives us the isolation needed for a potential end of the world type of problems the girls must work through.
Final Thoughts – This is a good watch even if it is slightly slow in places, we do struggle to get the most out of the deeper side of things but we are kept interested in where things could go next.
Overall: Slow but strong thriller.
Rating