Kate Bosworth plays Sarah, who deceives her two best friends, Lou and Abby, played by Lake Bell and Katie Aselton, into going on a camping trip on an remote island where they used to spend their summers together as children. After some hesitation, Lou and Abby decide to put their personal issues with one another aside to make Sarah happy and camp for the weekend. During some drinking around a fire on the beach, the three women find themselves in the company of three hunters, one of which a drunken Abby decides to flirt with. The consequences of her behavior leads to murder and a terrifying fight for survival.
Black Rock is based on a story and directed by Katie Aselton. The screenplay is written by her husband, Mark Duplass. The Duplass Brothers became a beloved name through the film festival circuit that spread into Hollywood. Considered indie film heroes, they have written and directed The Puffy Chair, Baghead, Cyrus, Jeff Who Lives At Home as well as executive produced the indie hit of 2012, Safety Not Guaranteed, which Mark starred in as well. It was their first film, The Puffy Chair, that introduced us to Mark and Katie, who stole our hearts as a lovable modern couple. Off the big screen both Mark and Katie star in the television series, The League.
Black Rock is at the same time a dramatic thriller and a survival horror with enough shocks, blood and tension to turn away many lovers of both Katie and Mark's previous work. This has lead to negativity towards the film. This is unfortunate because Black Rock very clearly states it is a horror/thriller yet it seems that either these certain audiences and critics didn't bother to take note of the genre or were hoping it to somehow miraculously become something more light-hearted.
Black Rock is not as audience friendly as previous films by the filmmakers associated with the film and for a horror/thriller, it shouldn't be. The story stays quite believable which is rarely achieved in this genre, the characters and dialogue are well-written, the performances are as good as they can be and Katie Aselton shows a lot of promise as a director.
