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Hi there, just got back from seeing this at Fantasia festival. The director was there and I applauded him.
I knew, just by the presentation/photos I saw of it weeks before that this would be incredible, and it was. I, purposely, skipped watching the trailer back then, to have the maximum surprise effect (you are in it for a big surprise!), you can watch the trailer but this film works best the less you know beforehand coming in. It is a simple story but told extremely well (I will reveal stuff/possible spoilers ahead). The story revolves around a gay lesbian couple (something very original here and adds a new dimension) whom decide to settle/make their life in an idyllic Canadian outdoor area near the water/in the pitoresque country backwoods. The imagery is grand and beautiful, the camera that was used is of the HD digital ones (it is apparent), the image is sharper which contrasts analog 35mm film which has more grain/fuzzy soft look - the image is truly popping in this film because of the use of digital camera - but it has that 'digital' crisp feeling that 35mm does not have. It's not a bad thing per say, just that the eye can detect imagery difference between digital vs analog. Analog 35mm has deeper color depth than digital (digital, even HDR True Color 48-bit (billion colors), still cannot equal a film celluloid negative in color presentation because the negative film is 'chemically' created by the reaction of light on the negative celluloid filmpellicule (light photons create the image during chemical reaction; think, like a photo slowly coming out of an old Polaroid camera after a photo snap and its colors gradually making the image visible (chemical reaction))). Digital camera makes digital signal full of pixels, with a digital camera the digital aspect becomes more obvious because the film itself is in DCP digital format. But, coming back to the story, the two women are madly in love, or so we think; one thing is sure, one is truly mad. Twisted beyond salvage. Sicko. To resume the story, one of the two women is a murderous monster hiding behind a beautiful façade, but very early on - you just know she's pretty, but a (pretty) sick woman and she is a bit 'offish', you know she's devious or of ill will, just looking her face/uneasy facial expressions, she is a 2-faced trickster liar and; all along, before we understand that, we get that vibe that she is the culprit.. of something. And, indeed, she is. Having murdered countless women before. It thus becomes a game of pure viscerality as the innocent woman (Jules) is thrown in a cat-and-mouse nightmare where she is the mouse. The antagonist (Jackie) pushes Jules down a huge ravine by surprise when she has her back turned and turns towards Jackie completely unaware (Jackie is still faking the 'in love' partner before this happens so Jules has no idea Jackie is a killer, thus nearly killing her after fall, but Jules survives this 30 meter fall on rocks. The film then proceeds to make sure Jules suffers every single minute by making her unable to outwit, outrun, outclass, outdo Jackie - Jackie is a force to be reckoned with, if seriously messed up. Jackie grewup hunting and this cabin were they lodge is her inherited cottage family home after her parents passed (though she probably killed them before)). She knows these woods like her backpocket, much to Jules disadvantage - Jules is nearly completely handicapped from the devastating fall, she has fractures, bones crushed, bruise all over, battered, weak, tired, shredded skin, in excrutiating pain, trembling, falling, struggling, bleeds from everywhere. Both actress are phenomenal in their acting, so incredibly real and terrifying at certain points. Brittany Allen steals the show as she is terrified of her ordeal and in extreme agony, predator vs prey - specifically, Predatress and she makes up for any female gender antagonist stereotype of 'not mean enough, Jackie is evil incarnate; any moment Jules could be one of these dead women, as Jackie relentlessly pursues her like a serialkiller stalking its victim for miles - she is like on one of her bear hunts. Jackie realises Jules survived, something that was not in her 'murder plotting' plan nor suppose to happen (she threw off other women before Jules from that cliff probably and none survived). At one point, Jules asks Jackie ''...Why?.....". But, we understand that Jackie has been doing this non-stop, serial killing, and gotten away with it each time because she erased any trace/she always made it look like an accident 'faking it' in her 'crying act' while calling the police (police was never suspicious of her, just accepted Jackie's fake charade 'my wife fell from a cliff... I'm so sad__' screaming, panting, sobbing, sniffing and all - her Act is convincing - police fell for it each time (they had no reason to suspect her because Jackie carefully erased any evidence that would lead to think of her being the one who killed her partner))). Jackie is doing this because her sanity, integrity, morality and human compassion are vanished, all that is left is a cold calculating manipulative empty shell, soulless. She is a monster, purest form with no more conscience but a simple thrill to kill. Murdering her innocent woman partners. When she looks herself in the mirror she likes what she sees, a vile foul thing with pretty face looks and a lust for blood. I think it is interesting that the director chose a lesbian couple, it created a surreal and new vision, we don't see that often - especially a gay women couple who are at each others figurative throat. I learned that Jackie's antagonist role was supposed to be a man, but the male actor was not available due to contract schedule incompatibility. Thus, it was a woman that was chosen instead, though I'm sure the role may have been somewhat updated/rewritten to reflect this change. Because, a regular a man assuming Jackie's role would not have been the same dynamic; a regular 'man chases woman' hetero couple would have been more bland, cliché and 'déjà vu'. The gay women couple dynamic changes the whole film, bringing a fresh new perspective (outside the festival I saw real gay women attend the film, many lesbian couple there went to see it. Gay or not, Hetero or not, this film breaks many clichés and stereotypes, and any gender can like it, any sexual orientation too, it breaks grounds and is not 'the token lesbian couple' stereotype film).
This film has strong Alfred Hitchcock's Pyscho film vibe and is inspired by it. The sound (terrifying/pulse pounding deep musical sound design - crisp powerful SFXs foley, we feel right there 'stuck in the middle') and cinematography (vistas, professional Alfred Hitchcock cinematography and camera angles (there is a scene where Jules is murdered in the attic but we see it from under the ceiling, the camera tensely follows their sttruggle while looking at the ceiling and the bangings sounds of them running, screaming, falling..), are truly great and elevate this opus to some of the best cinema craft.All in all, very surprised, so simple story yet masterfully executed, some of the best Canadian horror thriller. solid 9/10.
