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Backcountry (film)

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Backcountry
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAdam MacDonald
Written byAdam MacDonald
Produced byThomas Michael
StarringMissy Peregrym
Jeff Roop
Eric Balfour
Nicholas Campbell
CinematographyChristian Bielz
Edited byDev Singh
Music byFrères Lumières
Distributed byIFC Midnight
Release dates
  • September 8, 2014 (2014-09-08) (TIFF)
  • March 20, 2015 (2015-03-20) (United States)
  • August 14, 2015 (2015-08-14) (Canada)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$71,874[1]

Backcountry is a 2014 Canadian nature–survival horror film, written and directed by Adam MacDonald, marking his feature film directorial debut. It is loosely based on the true story of a hungry man-eating black bear that attacked Mark Jordan and Jacqueline Perry, in the back country of Missinaibi Lake Provincial Park, North of Chapleau, Ontario in 2005, events for which Mark later received the Star of Courage award from Governor General Michaëlle Jean.[2][3][4]

The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival,[5] and received generally positive reviews from critics upon release.[6][7]

Plot

Alex (Jeff Roop) prepares to take his girlfriend Jen (Missy Peregrym) camping for the weekend. When they arrive, a park ranger tells them the trail Alex wanted to take is closed and suggests they hike elsewhere; Alex refuses a map, confident that he knows the park well. After a canoe trip down the river, Alex injures his foot.

Night falls and they set up camp. Before dinner, they encounter a tour guide named Brad (Eric Balfour), whom Jen invites to dinner, much to Alex's annoyance. During the dinner, Brad flirts with Jen, and later in the night becomes antagonistic towards Alex but ultimately leaves. Though Alex and Jen initially planned on not hiking far, the next morning Alex decides to go off-trail, deeper into the park where Alex remembers there is a lake with a waterfall. On the way, he spots a bear paw print but does not tell Jen. The pair also discover a mauled, half-devoured deer carcass.

When they finally arrive at where Alex believes the lake is, they discover it is not and he realises they are lost. Jen looks for her cell phone but Alex reveals he removed it from her backpack and put it in the car, concerned that it would distract her. He also admits his knowledge of the area is less impressive than he first claimed; he has not hiked the area since high school. Jen lashes out at him, revealing that she never wanted to come on the trip. Alex reveals he was bringing her to the lake to propose.

They make camp and Jen apologises, then the two tend to Alex's injured bloody foot, which has unknowingly been attracting predators. During the night as the pair sleep, a black bear approaches the camp and sniffs the tent. Later that morning, they find that all of their food has been eaten. As they continue hiking they come across a bear bed, realising they are in dangerous territory, and decide to walk as far as possible before it gets dark. The next morning, Alex awakens to see the bear a few metres from the tent and getting closer. The bear claws through the tent and claws Jen on the arm. Alex, trying to protect her, is attacked too. Jen briefly wards the bear off with bear spray, but it returns, and Jen watches in horror as the bear drags Alex out of the tent and brutally kills him. Jen flees in terror.

Now without any food or shelter, Jen sleeps in a tree and wakes up to the sound of a helicopter overhead, but fails to get its attention. Stalked again by the bear, Jen manages to escape him by climbing down the waterfall, but she slips and breaks her ankle. Using a makeshift splint, she limps through the park at night using her road flare as a guide. After collapsing against a tree, suffering from her wounds, she awakes to see a caribou grazing in front of her, motivating her to continue.

Miraculously, Jen makes it back to their canoe. Paddling back to the lodge, she collapses on the beach in sight of Brad, who is getting ready to lead a tour, and he races over to help her.

Cast

Production

Production took place from October through November 2013.[9] The film was shot in Powassan, Ontario and Caddy Lake, Manitoba and was funded by Telefilm Canada and Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.[9]

Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2014.[5]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Backcountry holds an approval rating of 92%, based on 50 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10. Its consensus reads, "Tense, well-acted, and at once atmospheric as well as brutally impactful, Backcountry marks a memorably assured debut from writer-director Adam MacDonald."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".[7]

References

  1. ^ "Backcountry (2015) - Financial Information".
  2. ^ "Black bear kills woman camper north of Chapleau, Ont".
  3. ^ Nemiroff, Perri (September 14, 2014). "Writer-Director Adam MacDonald Talks BACKCOUNTRY, the True Story, Shooting with Real Bears, Editing Gory Scenes and More at TIFF". Collider. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  4. ^ "Governor General honours 15 Canadians for bravery".
  5. ^ a b Condit, Jon (September 7, 2014). "TIFF 2014: Stills, Artwork, and Screening Details for Backcountry". Dreadscentral.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Backcountry (2015) – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Backcountry reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  8. ^ Murphy, Mekado (March 12, 2015). "In 'Backcountry' and Other Movies, a Bear Makes a Mean Co-Star". The New York Times.
  9. ^ a b Vlessing, Etan (October 16, 2013). "Eric Balfour, Nicholas Campbell board Backcountry (Exclusive)". Playback. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
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