Into the Forest

Over Thanksgiving break, I watched the 2016 Canadian Indie film Into the Forest. Set in the mountainous region of Northern California, this film focuses on teenage and young adult sisters--Nell (Ellen Page) and Eva (Evan Rachel Wood) who must figure out how to survive when every source of electrical power goes dark. This film does an incredible job exploring the deep strength of the human condition while not putting it on a pedestal, or idolizing it.

Into the Forest is definitely different from most post-apocalytpic movies. This film is quiet, more analytical, and significantly less action-driven. It does not follow in the footsteps of movies like World War Z or War of the Worlds, whose plot-driven characters thrive on hacking and chopping their way to safety. Instead, Into the Forest focuses on the idea of danger slowly seeping into a safe space, in the form of a gas shortage, or an injury, or an unexpected (and devastating) visit from a stranger.

The film's ending does not wrap everything up in a perfect bow, as most apocalyptic movies do. The problem isn't solved, the electricity isn't fixed, and no explanation is given. Instead, the characters featured in this story are forever changed. Nell has acquired a newfound strength that she never knew she had, Eva is able to move past a personal catastrophe and signs a new lease on life, and both have fortified an unshakeable bond that is only built by people who have suffered and struggled together.

Rating: A