“Into the Forest” is a film that is less about what may be the apocalypse or destruction of society, but it is a film about two sisters who must undergo major challenges and be put into situations where they must make tough decisions as the life as they once lived, may no longer be possible. But through thick and thin, they must depend on each other in order to survive. “Into the Forest” is a film worth watching!
TITLE: Into the Forest
FILM RELEASE: 2016
DURATION: 101 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, (1:85:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
COMPANY: Lionsgate
RATED: R (A Scene of Violence Involving Rape, Language and Some Sexuality/Nudity)
RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2016
Based on the Novel by Jean Hegland
Directed by Patricia Rozema
Written by Patricia Rozema
Produced by Niv Fichman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Ellen Page
Executive Producer: Kelly Bush Novak, Jason Cloth, Sriram Das, Adrian Love, Kelly Morel, Haroon Saleem, Steve Shapiro, Allan J. Stitt
Co-Executive Producer: Kristina Sorensen, Steven Thibault
Co-Producer: Fraser Ash, Kevin Krikst
Supervising Producer: Margot Hand
Line Producer: Ron McLeod
Music by Max Richter
Cinematography by Daniel Grant
Edited by Matthew Hannam
Production Design by Jeremy Stanbridge
Art Direction by Tara Arnett
Set Decoration by Shannon Gottlieb
Costume Design by Aieisha Li
Starring:
Ellen Page as Nell
Evan Rachel Wood as Eva
Max Minghella as Eli
Callum Keith Rennie as Dad
Michael Eklund as Stan
Wendy Crewson as Mom
Set in the near future, this riveting and suspenseful apocalyptic drama follows two sisters whose peaceful lives are disrupted one day by a world-wide power outage. The sisters must work together in order to survive in their increasingly treacherous new world, fighting intruders, disease, loneliness, and starvation.
Filmmaker Patricia Rozema (“Mansfield Park”, “When Night is Falling”) returns with “Into the Forest”, a film that she wrote and directed and is based on the 1996 novel by Jean Hegland.
The film stars Ellen Page (“Inception”, “Juno”, “X-Men: Days of Future Past”), Evan Rachel Wood (“The Wrestler”, “Across the Universe”, “Thirteen”), Max Minghella (“Agoa”, “The Social Network”, “The Ides of March”), Callum Keith Rennie (“Californication”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “Memento”), Michael Eklund (“The Call”, “Eadweard”) and Wendy Crewson (“Air Force One”, “The Santa Clause”).
And now, “Into the Forest” is available on Blu-ray courtesy of Lions Gate.
The film is set in the non-distant future, Nell (portrayed by Ellen Page) is a student hoping to get into a good college and keep close to her boyfriend Eli (portrayed by Max Minghella).
Eva (portrayed by Evan Rachel Wood) is a dancer hoping to make it through a dance audition and be selected.
Their father, Robert (portrayed by Callum Keith Rennie) is the family patriarch, taking care of his two daughters, after the death of his wife (portrayed by Wendy Crewson).
The three live in a home in a forest area and life for the three was going good until a terrorist attack on the power grid has left the United States disabled. And with no power, the world around them is chaos.
With many people panicking and gas and food are in short supply, Robert takes his daughter out to the city to get some supplies. And as Nell is just grateful to get out of the house and be with her boyfriend, they realized how tough things are for people around town as supplies are low and their vehicle is not only low on gas and the car battery being nearly depleted, he knows that he will need to make tough decisions very soon.
While driving home, Robert tries to help two men stuck on the street but immediately they have their rifles aimed at him. Seeing the danger, Robert makes the decision that because the area is not safe, they will be staying at home and will not go back in town, which angers Nell.
And as the three try to work in the home, while Robert is using his buzz saw to cut trees, he gets into a tragic accident, severing an artery around his legs and while his daughters comes to his aid, his injuries are too great and the two sisters lose their father.
Having depended on their father, the two sisters must now work together to survive out in the forest, not knowing if the power will ever come back but only going by with what they hear from others. Â And these sisters must work together, to protect one another but also will need to maintain their home, hunt for survival but also to prepare themselves not just from animal predators but also other people who may bring them harm.
VIDEO:
“Into the Forest” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio). The film looks very good in HD as closeups show very good detail, lighting for the film, but also outdoor footage is filmed quite well. Skintones look natural, black levels look nice and deep. I didn’t notice any banding, artifacts or any negative issues during my viewing of the film.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Into the Forest” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. While the film is primarily dialogue and music driven, there is use of surround channels for outdoor ambiance.
Subtitles are in English, English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Into the Forest” comes with the following special features:
- “The Making of Into the Forest” featurette -Â Interviews with writer/director Patricia Rozema, cast talks about working with Patricia and their fellow castmembers and what attracted them to the script.
- Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary with writer/director Patricia Rozema.
EXTRAS:
“Into the Forest” comes with a slipcover and a UltraViolet digital HD code.
For a lot of people who watched the trailer for “Into the Forest”, it may give people the impression that the film is about events that take place after something horrible happens in the country. People are without power and with no power brings a lot of chaos around the world.
And typically we have seen films of survival after a major apocalypse the collapse of the infrastructure which lead to chaos.
But this is not that type of film.
Sure, chaos does happen but the film is more about two sisters, taking care of one another through difficult times and trying to survive with not much food and knowing they need to make tough decisions.
Life for sisters Nell and Eva become complicated when their father, a MacGyver type of guy who can fix anything, ends up getting into a major accident with a chainsaw and dies of his injuries.
The sisters who depended on their father face major challenges as wild animals are out in the forest and because they are living in dangerous times, the people around them, no one knows who can be trusted.
For Nell, her boyfriend Eli hears a rumor that the East Coast has power and that there is nothing for them by staying in the West Coast, but will Nell choose her love or her sister?
And unfortunately, things are made even more complicated when a family acquaintance does the unthinkable and the life for the sisters will never be the same again.
While the film keeps to similar settings and focus primarily on the performances of Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood for the majority of the film, I enjoyed “Into the Forest” for not succumbing to the banality of apocalyptic films and working within the constraints of their budget. Focuses on character development, the feeling of loneliness and the challenges each must face with food supplies dwindling and knowing that the lack of power and probably life as they once known it, to no longer be the same ever again.
But “Into the Forest” may not be for everyone. For those who watched the trailer and is expecting action and the potential destruction of civilization, this is not that type of film. This is a film about two sisters facing the biggest challenge in their lives and having to make touch choices. Especially for one of the sisters as something terrible happens to her.
As for the Blu-ray, picture quality is very good and lossless audio featuring crystal clear dialogue and surround channels more for outdoor ambiance and those certain moments that may startle you. As for special features, you get an audio commentary and making of featurette.
Overall, “Into the Forest” is a film that is less about what may be the apocalypse or destruction of society, but it is a film about two sisters who must undergo major challenges and be put into situations where they must make tough decisions as the life as they once lived, may no longer be possible. But through thick and thin, they must depend on each other in order to survive.
“Into the Forest” is a film worth watching!
