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Cast: Alysha Aubin, Candice Mausner, Morgan McCunn, Stephannie Richardson & Guy Yarkoni
Young teen Steph (Stephannie Richardson) and her three pals find themselves hopelessly lost deep in the Canadian wilderness when their guide -- Steph's older brother, Jonah (Guy Yarkoni) -- perishes while leading them on a backcountry canoe trip. Now the four girls must survive the perils of the wild and find their way back, even as Steph refuses to abandon her brother's body.
First off I want to clear something up here, I have seen people saying after they watched the trailer that this looks like a "Mean Creek" rip-off but let me tell this is nothing like it. Mean Creek was a revenge film and this is a film of survival, both have canoes and water but that is all they share. The film centers on a young girl and her three friends that take a canoe trip. They bring a long the Steph's older brother but during a stop sexual tensions arise and an accident takes the his life. The girls must band together to get back home but they will have to do it with the dead body as Steph refuses to leave her brother behind. I suppose from the cover you might get the idea this is a horror flick but it couldn't be more different. Surviving Crooked Lake is a Independent drama/thriller that takes full advantage of the outdoors and fantastic up close camera work to tell it's story and build the suspense and tension. The film works well as a thriller but there is also a lot of drama in the film, like the reason why Steph is so afraid of water, her story is a sad one and losing her brother just adds to her grief. I can see many people picking this up and being disappointed by the story simply because they will go into it expecting something completely different than it is. So in reading this I hope you get a better idea about what to expect because I felt this was a very good film about personal tragedy and survival that mixes the suspense in nicely with the drama. The cinematography and narrative both pull you into the film and you can feel all the young girl's emotions, you feel like you are right there beside them. Writer/Director's Sascha Drews, Ezra Krybus and Matthew Miller did a great job create a fresh and unique take on the survival genre and the young cast did a terrific job at playing their roles. If you like survival films then I suggest picking this up, it is a nice change from the mainstream films. Also I thought the ending was perfect and very realistic as well. Surviving Crooked Lake is another reason why Independent cinema is so important, please support it.
Released by NeoClassics Films LTD.
**** Out Of *****