The way my jaw dropped while watching this movie is something I’m still trying to get over. The betrayal here is just crazy. Anyway, this movie is a survival thriller. It is gripping and gut wrenching. It’s set against a vertigo-inducing backfire of a mountain face while thriving on endurance, moral desperation and sheer willpower.
Synopsis
Kelly (played by Brittany Ashworth), an experienced climber sets out on a mountainous adventure with her best friend, Sophie. But, while in their cabin preparing for the big climbing day, four men show up of course to go on the same hike. The girls are invited for a drink but only Sophie goes. Soon enough, things go south after one of the guys, a sociopath, Josh(Ben Lamb), tries to forcefully have his way with her, she refuses and he ends up murdering her, of course with the help of his pathetic friends. Kelly has the heinous crime filmed on camera but Josh and his friends want the camera as it’s the only evidence against them.
Kelly tries to escape by climbing a treacherous rock face to avoid capture. As the men pursue her, the film becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse, with survival hanging by a literal thread.
Review and Personal Criticism
Call it sentiment but after watching this movie, I sat down to analyze the script and then boom, I developed hatred for the writer because it clearly looks like he has beef with women and used this film’s script as an opportunity to let it out. This is evident in Josh’s hasty generalization that ‘women’ have no single bone of loyalty in them. He was so furious saying it and I could only imagine the writer's face when he put that down. Oh, and that of the director too(Howard J. Ford). I guess they both agree with that false narrative and then they try to cover it up by not letting the villain get away with his crime. If we were back in the 18th century I bet there wouldn’t have been an escape for both women.
Leaving my emotions aside, for a while, this film plays to its strengths with a tense, claustrophobic setting. Much of the film takes place on a sheer cliffside and the camera work captures the danger and vertigo impressively. Brittany Ashworth gives a strong physical performance, portraying Kelly with grit, fear and resilience. Her determination to survive feels believable.
Now, where this film struggles is by occasionally stretching plausibility especially in the character depth of the antagonists. I mean the other three flats who are puppets to Josh. If they wanted to be real with the audience, I guess they’d have made those guys deal with Josh’s betrayal after he had taken the first guy out. He literally murdered someone he called a friend. The other two found out about it but decided to stay loyal because what? I guess they never thought they could be next. Lmfao. Or maybe the writer was too busy using his brain thinking about how women have no loyalty bones than thinking of how to take out a freaking cookie-cutter villain.
At least I’m glad he didn’t forget to make some of the action defy logic as Kelly was made to be nearly Wonderwoman while climbing the mountain knowing fully well that in real life, she wouldn’t have escaped death except she had entered a pact with the cold harvester prior to that moment anyway.
Anyway, the film’s commitment to pacing is what keeps it engaging. It at least knows what it is: a survival thriller with a simple premise, sharp stakes and a ‘forced’ female lead trying to fight back against violence.
Well this one pissed me off but it delivers enough tension, urgency and thrills to keep you hanging on - literally.
Rating: 3/5
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