Looking for information about the movie Wilderness, before or after watching it? Camping makes people behave differently from themselves. Once the Great Nature comes into view, the power dynamics may change and the normal sense of self-preservation may or may no longer be intact. That's exactly what happened when one couple went camping in the movie "The Backwoods," based on a 2005 incident at Missinaibi Provincial Park. Arriving at their destination one fateful weekend, the heroes of this 2014 Canadian horror story gradually become victims of both personal stress and a ruthless environment.
In Backcountry, Alex (Jeff Roop) was looking forward to showing friend Jenn (Missy Peregrym) the Blackfoot Trail until they were informed that the area was closed for the season. Alex, who has already refused to take the map from the park ranger (Nicholas Campbell), does not verbally communicate his intentions, but they are not difficult to understand. So in less than two minutes, director Adam Macdonald makes it clear to the audience that this outing is going to go down the drain.
Despite his apparent inexperience and awkwardness, Alex continues to act arrogant and, at times, condescending throughout the weekend. He first teases Jenn for bringing bear spray as well as the wrong kind of flares, and then ignores her request to come home at the first (and big) sign of trouble. Yet it is Alex who causes danger at every turn on this off-road trek. It's not Brad, the tour guide (Eric Balfour) whom Jenn innocently invites to dinner, or the park ranger who wasn't more pushy with the map. No, if anyone is to blame, it's the headless and self-confident Alex.
Since Jenn is a lawyer and probably makes more money than her landscaper boyfriend, Alex may well be concerned about what he perceives as upending his ideal heteronormative relationship. And if there's one way to demonstrate traditional masculinity, it's hiking. Jenn is an established rookie, so Alex, even when he makes mistakes, appears somewhat competent. Everything, of course, changes when the charming and truly passionate Brad appears and challenges Alex. Jenn is not unaware of this competition, so when Brad tries to offer his services as a tour guide, she politely declines because she already has one. However, the damage to Alex's ego is done, especially when Brad states his "misunderstanding" one last time.
In the end, The Wilderness turns into a brutal parable about the consequences of dishonesty not only towards others, but also towards oneself. Alex makes himself out to be some kind of adventurer, when in fact he hasn't even been to Blackfoot since middle school. He confuses nostalgic attachment to the trail with working knowledge, and soon the pair are lost in the middle of the park. Until this point, Jenn had completely given control of the situation to her boyfriend, even apologizing when she felt like she was ruining Alex's fun. But once they completely lose their way, Jenn panics. She finally takes it out on Alex, destroying him with her words (“You always ruin everything, you’re such a fucking loser”).
It's pretty easy to hate Alex since Macdonald created him as the film's only punching bag. It wouldn't be a surprise if people considered him to be the real antagonist. Besides acting like he knows everything better than anyone else, he does everything possible to make this trip happen, even if it means lying and hiding information. From secretly leaving Jenn's cell phone so she won't make any more work calls to keeping quiet about suspicious animal prints he sees in the dirt, Alex makes bad decisions like it's his job. His goal was an unexpected marriage proposal, but one good deed does not cancel all the bad ones. Despite this, it's hard not to feel sympathy for Alex in light of what happens in the film's devastating centerpiece, The Wilderness.
The Wilderness may have a killer bear, but it has little in common with other killer bear movies. For starters, the black bear that can be seen here only takes one life. Despite the meager number of corpses, McDonald creates one of the most impressive scenes of simulated bear massacre on screen. The trails of gore and gore are indeed mind-boggling after viewing landscapes and other natural scenes, but it's the lingering quality of the attack, and the accompanying soundtrack of dripping and tearing flesh, that haunt the viewer. This is not the case when an obvious paw-like prop comes into the frame and destroys someone with one ephemeral swipe. In contrast, this sequence lasts an agonizing five minutes before the lone survivor manages to escape.
The bear's overall image has changed dramatically over time, so much so that it is perceived as cute and funny rather than potentially dangerous. Unlike sharks, snakes and big cats, the bear is deceptively cute. They are not immediately perceived as scary like other animals. Therefore, it is not surprising that they have been turned into cartoon characters, toys and mascots. But it's not just anthropomorphism that makes bears less scary; Even in the horror genre, the bear is never depicted as a real animal. On average, they are brighter, more cunning, and generally look nothing like their real-life counterparts. The film "The Wilderness" shows the bear well, albeit a rare cannibal, but without any show off. And the end result is absolutely terrifying.
Adam Macdonald's colossal debut shows a unique nightmare caused by human error. The hero of Alex shows indiscretion over and over again, but even if he followed the rules and took all the necessary precautions, there is still no guarantee that everything would have turned out differently. In the end, nature is indifferent to the system of right and wrong behavior of people. And the film The Wilderness demonstrates this fact with unprecedented severity.
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