Surviving Crooked Lake

This Canadian thriller-drama was a surprise. This little gem was well made despite financially belong to a lower grade. From the actors to the crew, all were fresh. This is a limited cast film about the four young teen girls who are stranded on a lake bank for days with a dead body. Trying to get back home, but lost their way in the wilderness. So they face numerous challenges, and risking their lives, they take a mission on their hands. But would they succeed or not what leads to the final segment of the narration.

I have seen plenty of lost in wild and struggling to survive films. But this one was not one of those, except the story outline. In this, the girls are not concerned about their survival. Obviously, that's the first step anybody would consider for, but these girls are comfortable and confident on that. So what's this about then? This is about a quest they had undertaken that becomes theirs foremost priority. That's why it looked so fresh, despite there's no story in it, just the random happenings.

So I think it is an underrated film. I was aware of this film when it came out, but had no luck to have a watch. Very engaging narration, there's always something keeps happening. That is one of the reasons to hook with it till the last, despite technical flaws. I mean, in many parts, the camera work was sloppy, like out of focus and too much close up shots. They might have done it deliberately, but the viewers won't feel comfortable in a normal film and this one wasn't a normal film, not to me.

I loved the locations, feels like I want to visit there. I think the filmmakers used it perfectly to the story they wanted to tell us. I know the end should have been in detail, but I'm happy for its simplicity. Besides, small film like this can't afford fancy conclusion and to commercialise. Now this is kind of artistic portrayal of struggle, as well as very edgy film. Its okay if you're not interested in this, but you should try it if an opportunity is near to you.

7/10

If Surviving Crooked Lake feels a little amateurish to you, perhaps it is because (and I know this for a fact) it was made by a group of University students at the York University in Toronto. Now it sounds a bit more impressive huh? This is a feature length film! and whats more...it works, not brilliantly, but sufficiently.

If you were to put Deliverance, The Blair Witch Project, and Cast Away into a blender, you would get the recipe for Surviving Crooked Lake. Despite being highly derivative, and using a few too many contrivances to carry the story along, it is a pretty wild adventure with some heart and also some horror.

In the first twenty minutes, I was actually a little dubious about Surviving Crooked Lake. The intro plays out a bit too much like a chick flick, with silly lines. Four out of the five girls in this film turn into characters as we progress, but the fifth does nothing, except look like Sarah Polley. (Personally I would've liked to see her get eaten).

This aside, I have no other major complains about the execution of the story. The climax is very strong actually, exceptionally well directed, and scary, even psychological. By the end, Surviving Crooked Lake becomes a story not so much about survival or friendship, but about letting go of inner demons.

Aside from being occasionally annoyed, I enjoyed Surviving Crooked Lake, and I do recommend it.

Stephannie lost her father and has relied on older brother Jonah. She's afraid of the waters and has attended summer camp with Jonah. It's the last summer for her and her friends Alysha, Candice, and Morgan. Steph reluctantly goes on a canoe trip with them after Jonah makes a switch to be their guide. One night, Morgan gets embarrassed with her crush Jonah and runs off. Jonah trips in the dark chasing her. The girls get lost while the unconscious Jonah gets worst and passes away.

It's a real indie with amateur actors. In that sense, this is pretty good for what it is. The girls are competent actors. The movie starts in a hazy dreamy summery way. The camera lingers on the girls a little too closely. The movie takes another step up. There is one solid emotional moment when Stephannie refuses to let go. However, I get the feeling that the script simply runs out of ideas. The girls are nicely drawn characters. The writing needs to take advantage but it doesn't get to the next level. Steph shouldn't be left alone like that. It's the dialog and the movie simply runs out of steam in the end.

I love this flick just for the nostalgia value -- you see I did years of field research many years ago at Algonquin Park and I recognize a lot of the venues in some of the scenes, especially near the beginning of the movie. As for the movie itself -- well -- the plot is a little silly, but I can suspend disbelief 'cause kids do often have very bad judgement and can get into unnecessarily complicated The acting is, for the most part, passable. situations. But the cinematic quality of the movie is top-notch. Just some really amazing scenes of the lakes and the shield, so distinctive of the region! and worth a view just for that -- and if you are a Canadian camper, it's the next best thing to being there (and no black flies!). Thumbs up!

The lack of believability in certain aspects of how even the basic instinct for survival is portrayed here is so unrealistic as to leave one wondering if this was conceived by a high schooler. The acting is surprisingly good and the cinematic direction is above par. Even the narration is tolerable. The hardest and most painful part of this movie to endure is the lack of realism and pragmatism on the part of the characters trying to survive in the wild. It simply and quickly becomes pretentious and irritating to watch seemingly smart people give up their god-given smarts to pursue a false sense of nobility while leaving common sense behind. It actually grated on me off more and more for the last 3/4 of the movie. You don't shout racial epithets while walking through bad neighborhoods and you don't carry rotting, bloody things endlessly through the woods for basically the same reason. When you see a decent movie that does SO much wrong inasmuch it is simply and completely so unrealistic, it is truly painful for the creative mind to endure. And, in this movie, to be specific, the character you most want to have respect and sympathy for becomes someone that you want slap back into reality every few minutes while you are wondering about what else is on TV at the moment.