The struggles of a sisterly connection are put to the test in symbolic darkness during a massive, freakish power outage in director Patricia Rozema’s intimate, gripping and quietly thoughtful post-apocalyptic drama **Into the Forest**. Academy Award-nominees Ellen Page (“Juno”) and Rachel Evan Wood (“Thirteen”) are the cinematic siblings in Rozema’s (“Kit Kittredge: An American Girl”) meditative, tension-inducing tale about the futuristic flirtation with global panic and disillusionment when the world faces the possibility of a modern-day meltdown in technological dependency. In short, **Into the Forest** is a low-key character study touching upon not only the survival of the deteriorating societal elements but also the bond of sisterhood glued together by faith and fear under dour circumstances. Rozema’s unassuming yet disciplined direction and thought-provoking script creates a low-toned “end-of-the-world” cynicism that psychologically works in her minimalist melodrama. Also, the film’s leads in Page and Evan Wood provide a heavy dose of believability as the periled sisters trapped in the unpredictable confines of the ominous and isolating Canadian woods out in the middle of nowhere as the worldwide woes of a collapsing powerless predicament threatens the global community. Rozema does an admirable job of establishing layers of disorientation on both a collectively worldly scale and smaller, personalized scale for its clingy siblings-in-distress. **Into the Forest** truly resonates when the audience is forced to realize the frightening footsteps of its sisterly protagonists facing the mental and emotional scrutiny of their jeopardized existences. Convincingly atmospheric and contemplative, **Into the Forest** manages to be chilling without being over-exaggerated and cliched as one might anticipate in the routine doomsday dramas looking to exploit its nightmarish nuances. The film, as mentioned previously, is set in the near future where sisters Nell (Page) and Eva (Evan Wood) along with their father Robert (Callum Rennie) reside in an expansive house in the woods located in the Pacific Northwest. The narrative wastes no time setting the foundation for its percolating premise when the loss of electricity causes an obvious impact of the uncertainty--stranded out in the broad rustic boundaries without the immediate access to the daily and crucial amenities needed. Nell and Eva come to the realization that the power may not be restored at all. As a result, the starkness and disbelief elevates as the young women must confront the harsh realities as their supply of food and other necessities are diminishing day-by-day. Thus hopelessness, haplessness and helplessness start to rear its ugly head for the unsteadiness of Nell's and Eva's fragile sanity. Rozema uses **Into the Forest** as an effective landscape for the self-examination of how civilization can easily unravel in a moment's notice. The commentary is not lost on the complacency, indifference and arrogance of mankind taking for granted the gift of planetary conveniences--whether naturally conceived or technologically enhanced. Perhaps **Forest** is not as deep-seeded in traumatic forethought as one might expect but it certainly feels uplifting, genuine and insightful in its message of human despair predicated on a colossal whim of chaos and destruction. **Forest** is unflinching and reflective and clearly shows an edginess and eloquence that is not easily associated with the typical fear-the-unknown fables that are cranked out of Hollywood with bored redundancy. Thankfully, talented performers such as Page and Evan Wood are able to convey that sense of vulnerability that triggers a realistic concern to comply with the film's haunting, creepy theme. Canadian filmmaker Rozema is no stranger in presenting prickly and complex women in transition of a reactionary canvas of feminine growth and self-discovery. Previous Rozema-helmed film projects such as the aforementioned "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" from 2008 and debuted feature "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing" (1987) demonstrate the similar traits that embodies the determined spirit and inner doubts and dilemmas of Forest's harried heroines searching for comfort in the eye of threatening madness. Hence, Page and Evan Wood aptly carries the skillful angst and anxieties on their burdensome shoulders in Rozema's resourceful character-driven showcase of a crumbling and catastrophic World Order. Undoubtedly, **Into the Forest** marches into the wayward woods of darkness in what amounts to be a surreal, disastrous fairy tale tainted in psychological turmoil. Let's say that the likes of Little Red Riding Hood have nothing on the exposed turbulence of **Forest's** sisterly dystopian divas in Page's Nell and Evan Wood's Eva. **Into the Forest** (2016) Rhombus Media 1 hr. 41 mins. Starring: Ellen Page, Rachel Evan Wood, Callum Keith Rennie, Wendy Crewson, Max Minghella, Michael Eklund, Jordana Largy Directed and Written by: Patricia Rozema MPPA Rating: R Genre: Science Fiction and Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic Drama, Psychological Thriller Critic's rating: *** stars (out of 4 stars) **(c) Frank Ochieng (2016)**
Great watch, would watch again, and can recommend. Trigger Warning: sexual violence. Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood carry most of this "mysterious dystopia" movie. I'm sure this story can be used as a parallel of what it is to be a woman in the modern world, but I see it as a survival story. The two aren't necessarily exclusive to another. The "last person on the planet" trope is good, but even just the idea of living off-grid is daunting enough to the average person without it being the only option. It's a sister story right alongside "Frozen" and "Kill La Kill" to me. The family togetherness is a good lesson woven into the story. While I'd prefer zombies, they do a great job of showing the story, the character's emotions and how they're feeling about things at any time. On the frustrating side of it: you get to see people make a lot of mistakes in surviving, which of course progresses the story bit by bit.
The inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught of disease, as the deadly rage virus has killed every citizen there. Six months later, a group of Americans dare to set foot on the Isles, convinced the danger has passed. But it soon becomes all too clear that the scourge continues to live, waiting to pounce on its next victims.
When a virus leaks from a top-secret facility, turning all resident researchers into ravenous zombies and their lab animals into mutated hounds from hell, the government sends in an elite military task force to contain the outbreak.
As the city is locked down under quarantine, Alice finds out that the people that died from the previous incident at the Umbrella Corporation have turned into zombies. She then joins a small band of elite soldiers, who are enlisted to rescue the missing daughter of the creator of the mutating T-virus. Once lack of luck and resources happen, they begin to wage an exhilarating battle to survive and escape before the Umbrella Corporation erases its experiment from the face of the earth.
Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.
A fictionalised exploration of Beethoven's life in his final days working on his Ninth Symphony. It is 1824. Beethoven is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer. A fictional character is introduced in the form of a young conservatory student and aspiring composer named Anna Holtz. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her. By the time the piece is performed, her presence in his life is an absolute necessity. Her deep understanding of his work is such that she even corrects mistakes he has made, while her passionate personality opens a door into his private world.
A Jewish woman named Jettel Redlich flees Nazi Germany with her daughter Regina, to join her husband, Walter, on a farm in Kenya. At first, Jettel refuses to adjust to her new circumstances, bringing with her a set of china dishes and an evening gown. While Regina adapts readily to this new world, forming a strong bond with her father's cook, an African named Owuor.
An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a third person in the room.
Jimmy Muir comes from a typical gritty, northern town where there are only two options: working down the pit or in a factory. But Jimmy has other ideas - he dreams of becoming a professional footballer. Confronted by a bitter and unsupportive father, hard drinking friends and a lifetime of bad habits...has Jimmy the will to achieve his ultimate goal?
In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.
Paris, 1967. Disillusioned by their suburban lifestyles, a group of middle-class students, led by Guillaume (Jean-Pierre Léaud) and Veronique (Anne Wiazemsky), form a small Maoist cell and plan to change the world by any means necessary. After studying the growth of communism in China, the students decide they must use terrorism and violence to ignite their own revolution. Director Jean-Luc Godard, whose advocacy of Maoism bordered on intoxication, infuriated many traditionalist critics with this swiftly paced satire.
Bored and restless, Alice spends much of her time lusting after Jim, a local sawmill worker. When not lusting after him, Alice fills the hours with such pursuits as writing her name on a mirror with vaginal secretions and wandering the fields with her underwear around her ankles. And, in true teenaged tradition, she spends a lot of time writing in her diary.