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| Images courtesy of Cinephobia Releasing |
A dissolving marriage makes its way into the woods in the emotionally charged relationship thriller, Brightwood.
As far as low budget horror or sci-fil films go, it’s often times hard to tell them apart. Many are defined by repetitive scenarios based on plots that have been beaten to death time and time again. Dane Elcar’s first full-length film is a hard turn away from the expected as two adults find themselves on a running trail that leads to pain, darkness, and suffering.
Focused on two main characters that have a quick but definitive setup, Brightwood shows how the most limited budgets can still be churned into creative and unique genre entries. Elcar’s project will be compared with the works of Benson and Moorhead since it deals with a similar time loop story. Tension and stress quickly devolve into full tilt madness as the main characters are trapped together in a ceaseless journey in a never- ending circle. Based on Elcar’s 2018 short film, The Pond, this feature adaptation teeters on 85 minutes of madness as two mildly unlikeable characters face a revolving circle of doom with no chance of escape. The allegory may be way too on the nose, but as an overall film, it works with great effect, challenging its viewer’s patience and senses along the way.
Starring two unknowns, Dana Berger and Max Woertendyke, Brightwood has a natural and kinetic feel to it that allows the actors to play off each other dynamically, offering up some excellent performances from both. They are believable and bring a nearly frustrating amount of natural chemistry to their interactions. While the story evolves and moves within the confines of an unexplained phenomenon, the drama ramps up and turns into a full-on anxiety attack on screen. Those that have struggled with mental illness or emotional issues the last several years will undoubtedly feel trapped by the pacing and blasts of sheer confusion that this movie relies so heavily on. This all builds to an absolutely mind- numbing conclusion that opens up more questions and left us feeling gutted by its finality.
Some similarities to Ben Wheatley’s pandemic forest-based freak out, In The Earth could be made. However, Brightwood is very dialogue based and isn’t too stylized whatsoever. Using a droning and pulsating score along with some great forest scenery, Elcar’s sci-fi horror mashup may get some comparisons to Annihilation without the budget or big-name stars.
It’s really more about telling a story and messing with the audience’s predisposed idea of what it is actually about. There is a great mystery here that doesn’t come to any defined resolution, which in turn ends up creating more questions than answers. It works by spinning a paradoxical web of infinity that doesn’t really require an explanation. The two main characters are trapped together forever, unable to escape their marital bond, as they continually spin into the unknown looking for some type of release from their forever prison, together forever.
Brightwood is available on DVD and VOD today.
-CG