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First, the Recap:
A deterioration of steadiness, belief, and happiness. Striving to maintain a place in our lives that showcases joy, contentment, and/or stability is paramount for our wellbeing. Knowing that what we’ve chosen to pursue, in whatever forms, that is healthy and rewarding is key. However, when things instead have taken a downward turn, causing us pain, anger, and a not so positive outlook, we then yearn to find the answers to bring us BACK to that realm of peace. But, what happens when the means to do so end up taking us down an even potentially darker road?
Eleanor (Amelie Leroy) desperately wants her sanity of heart, mind, spirit, and soul to return. Coming off current, though fully undisclosed, events that have caused her life to no longer be settled or happy, it is a journey both physical and mental she decides to take via going on a solo hike near her Welsh hometown. Despite the reluctance of her doting but perhaps slightly overbearing mother Jill (Gillian Broderick), Eleanor embarks on her sojourn, not knowing that something far more ancient and dark (Heidi Dorschler) awaits her–in the wilderness.
Next, my Mind:
Fifteen minutes is never a wealth of time, in most people’s eyes, to even remotely establish any depth of a baseline premise for a film, much less allow for deeper investment and engagement as a viewer. However, it is the unequivocal wonder that is the medium of short film which, in the right hands, can actually achieve ALL of the aforementioned and then some. This is what occurs through second time writer/first time director Amelie Leroy‘s new project that is not only deftly executed overall, but delves into the eerie mythology of the British Isles with a beautifully crafted magnitude of both a study in basic humanity paired with a slowly building creepiness that, for this critic, is something I would LOVE to see MORE of from this region of the world that’s so steeped in folklore and the uniquely sinister things it harbors that go bump or wail or stalk in the night.
Along with producer Jonas Babics and executive producer/editor Edward Evers-Swindell, Leroy spins a narrative foray that sees a young woman ensuring personal crisis looking to re-discover who and what she is taking a journey into her town’s woodlands only to find that she’s not the only entity on the hunt with a purpose in the wild. The first element of this that stands out for me is the sheer simplicity yet intelligently depicted primal-ness of the story at hand. It’s not filled with unnecessary fluff or forced emergence of the initially veiled menace the tale ultimately revolves around. Rather, the film oozes a sense of raw realism and smartly, palpably delivered chills PLUS a nicely uncomplicated but viable character study that makes you WANT to know more, WANT to understand exactly WHAT it is that’s in play and HOW it therefore becomes a grander part of the lead character’s quest for solace. It’s the kind of horror that works on your MIND and on your nerves.
But, as stated earlier, it IS still a slower burn approach being taken, which upon reflection made this critic wonder if this really is a proof of concept piece being readied for feature film treatment? The catalyst for the spookiness conveyed and envisioned for this comes directly from Welsh-born folklore, and in watching the film, it made me have to look up more details on the entity in question. I am being intentionally vague here, as I frankly do not wish to spoil things as TO what “it” is, but suffice it to say (and placing myself in Eleanor’s position!) it would be MORE than enough to cause me to never look at a walk in the Welsh woods the same way again–or want to go at all! Even if you wish to say that there are several horror film tropes utilized here, it doesn’t matter, because I don’t feel it steals anything away from the plausibly haunting atmosphere the film elicits, especially more so in the second and third acts.
Additionally, HOW the film chooses to end was honestly surprising to me, in the BEST of ways, as it admittedly does leave much to conjecture in a manner that just BEGS for further exploration. I personally hope this is able to happen. But, in the meantime, we still have a complete film that speaks to the things we struggle with, the ways we cope, the desperate need to renew ourselves when an unsettled state is reached, the figurative and literal ways we find ourselves lost, confronting the uncanny, trying to escape from what we don’t understand and that frightens us (usually a GOOD idea!) but then succumbing, finding that there may be lessons to be learned even in disquieting and terrifying circumstances, and suddenly acknowledging it all with a calmness that defies the situation as a whole–because perhaps we’ve actually seen ourselves. These, for me, were some of the thematic forays the film chooses to address. The fact it is wrapped in its folk horror film shell only made these thematic aspects stick with greater credibility and impact.
Then, there was the total pleasure to finally get the opportunity to see Leroy on screen, stepping out from her freshman adventure behind the camera to embody the portrait of a successful woman who has recently (perhaps) been scorned in some fashion, now finding herself inwardly and emotionally bereft. In spite of her mother’s doubts about the means by which to go and refuel herself, Eleanor departs for a hiking excursion into the woodlands that surround her Welsh home. The time away is immediately cathartic and seemingly restful–at least until the whispering voice and an at first brief brush with something otherworldly that appears to then be attempting to draw her to it. Refusing to bow to whatever it might be, Eleanor presses on until one particular night shakes her to the core, as a far more definitive encounter with a legend leaves an unanticipated and certainly indelible mark on her and what moving ahead in her life might actually now mean.
I truly believe that it’s the way Leroy is able to manifest a female lead character that is unquestionably independent and strong while also credibly showcasing Eleanor’s vulnerability and uncertainty at first as to what her life will be like both before and even afterward her ordeal. It simply makes the character HUMAN and having to face something that’s far from that and come out the other side different—but in precisely what FORM remaining the enigmatic facet the narrative leaves us with. It’s a steady, controlled, quietly intense performance Leroy provides, again lending that total air of grounded believability that suits the film even with its supernatural horror aspect. Supporting turns arrive from Broderick as Jill, Eleanor’s loving but slightly over-concerned mother, and Dorschler as the shadowy, menacing, yet strangely ambiguous thing of lore who makes Eleanor’s jaunt into the forest something FAR more than she would ever see coming.
So, in total, “Wilderness” is an excellent (albeit, abbreviated) slice of evocatively-driven but still spine-chilling storytelling that is a breath of fresh air for those who might be seeking a change in style when it comes to this genre of horror. More so, it makes one hope that it is a narrative we will see continued in some way, as its focus on transformation, rebirth, and gaining of wisdom is relevant, shining that light on our personal strifes, and even flaunting with the concept of whether the monsters we face are without or, more frighteningly, within.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
