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Backcountry (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Backcountry' is a 2014 Canadian naturesurvival 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 Michalle Jean.
The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and received generally positive reviews from critics upon release.
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. During dinner, they encounter a tour guide called Brad (Eric Balfour) who flirts with Jen, which irritates Alex. Brad implies he would be more suited to take Jen on a hike. 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 he is 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 he 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
* Missy Peregrym as Jen
* Jeff Roop as Alex
* Eric Balfour as Brad
* Nicholas Campbell as the Ranger
* Chester and Charlie as the Bear
Production
Production took place from October through November 2013. The film was shot in Powassan, Ontario and Caddy Lake, Manitoba and was funded by Telefilm Canada and Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.
Release
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2014.
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." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".
References
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