Backcountry

[projekktor id=’20583′]

Backcountry is a Canadian wilderness survival thriller written and directed by Adam MacDonald. The film was shot on location around North Bay, Ontario and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. The small cast features Missy Peregrym, Eric Balfour, and Nicholas Campbell.

BACKCOUNTRY is a tense thriller about a young couple who go camping in the Canadian wilderness. Alex is a seasoned camper while Jenn is… not. After much convincing, she finally agrees to let him take her to one of his favorite spots, the secluded Blackfoot Trail. They push deeper and deeper into the forest, Alex insisting that he remembers the way. However, the further they go, the less certain he becomes. After three days, their path disappears: they are hopelessly lost. Without food or water, they struggle to find their way back. When they realize that they have entered bear territory, the terror gets turned up to a whole new level.

The film’s plot is based on a true story, and in an interview with Collider.com MacDonald talked about respecting the tragedy while trying to make an entertaining film. “For me, I wanted to respect anybody who’s been attacked by a wild animal in a way where it’s not a joke. It’s serious, serious business. When people have seen the attack in this movie, they’re really taken aback and they can feel it, and that’s what I wanted to do. To be honest, I think it would be such a disservice if someone saw the movie and went, ‘That’s not how it happens at all. It happened to me and that’s bullsh*t.’”

Backcountry is rated 14A.