Originally written for hobby blog on 20 April 2018
Spoilers be ahead
I was initially excited about this film with the opening scene with characters Alex (Jeff Roop) and Jenn (Missy Peregrym) driving down the highway because I actually recognized the landscape passing by. Upon a quick google search I found that the movie is loosely based on a bear attack that took place in Missinaibi Lake Provincial Park (which you have to pass by my beloved Algonquin Park to get to). This isn’t too much of a spoiler as with looking at the movie poster you pretty much know how the movie is going to go down. To be honest, a lot of thriller movies set in nature seem to play out in a similar way, and it’s all in the details that make a movie enjoyable or not.
Can’t say I enjoyed the details of this particular movie.
That’s not to say it wasn’t shot well or that the director doesn’t know how to build suspense, but it was the foundation that that suspense was built on I had no interest in, as I had no sense of sympathy for the characters. Both Alex and Jenn are unlikable characters, with Jenn not even attempting to be interested in something her boyfriend is so obviously passionate about, and Alex just being as thick headed and full of machismo as it comes. He refuses to take a map while walking in the backcountry. Strike 1. Refuses help from someone with more experience than him because of his masculine pride. Strike 2. Refuses to admit they’re lost until they are really lost. Strike 3. Purposely taking Jen’s cell phone out of her bag so she wouldn’t be on it during the trip and thus ridding himself of a final means to call for help? You’re outta here.
Speaking of masculine pride, there is the character of Brad (Eric Balfour) who acts as a red herring character. It feels like the point of his character was only to get in a pissing contest with Alex in front of Jenn. In the end, he’s the one there once Jenn, badly wounded, makes it back to civilization, but it feels hallow because his prideful behavior previous doesn’t make him likable either. Do characters need to be likable? No, but they should at least have endearing qualities to them. People often love villain characters even though they do horrible things because they have interesting personalities. No one had an interesting personality here. To be perfectly honest, I had to look up the character’s names for this review because I had forgotten them by the end of the movie.
Let’s talk about the real-life story this was based on for a moment. In real life, it was the guy and not the girl who survived. Why make the switch? It seems arbitrary, unless the director thought that the character pulled along for the ride, who didn’t make the mistakes Alex did, made her a more sympathetic character, but there isn’t that much personality to really sympathize with. That’s not getting started on the fact that she doesn’t even try to attack the bear at all while it’s mauling the apparent love of her life. I honestly don’t know how these two got so far along in a relationship that Alex was considering proposing to her on the trip as they do nothing but nag at each other. Neither Alex or Jenn even try to use the flare or bear spray that Jenn brought.
Long story short, Backcountry may have had all the pieces to being a good survival-thriller, with good suspense build-up, plenty of misdirections, realistic gore effects, and beautiful scenery, but it feels hallow because the minimalist cast of little personality to share between them isn’t very sympathetic. I honestly don’t know why so many people gave this movie high reviews. Suspense should come from good writing, not from the character’s stupidity.
Some Quick Stats:
Directed by: Adam Macdonald
Starring: Missy Peregrym, Jeff Roop, Eric Balfour, and Nicholas Campbell
Distributed by: IFC Films
Released: Originally at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) September 8th, 2014. Released March 20th, 2015 in the United States and in Canada on August 14th, 2015.