This review was made possible due to an advance copy of Brightwood provided to Popped by Cinephobia Releasing for review. Brightwood releases on all VOD platforms from March 21st.
Time loops can be a terrifying existential concept to tackle within our minds because of the expressed loneliness it comes with. When you’re doomed to repeat a few minutes of your own life, it’s not long until the crushing feeling of the end draws near. As terrifying as this can be, how much worse can a time loop be if you’re not entirely alone but instead stuck with your worst enemy? Dane Elcar‘s Brightwood is a Lofi thriller that tackles the struggles of relationships in the face of science fiction and horror.
Stuck in the Forest With You
Brightwood follows Jen (Dana Berger) and Dan (Max Woertendyke), a couple who go for a run around a local pond. After a work party, the two aren’t on the best of terms and are now beginning to consider a divorce. While on this run, however, the couple begin to find themselves repeating the same path over and over again. As the two search for their escape, questions of their relationship and the lengths they would go to save each other begin to be uncovered.
From the outset, Brightwood is not working with a whole lot on a visual level. Besides two actors and a mundane forest, this is a film that exclusively relies on both its script and its actors in order to craft its tension and scares. At first, the characters of Jen and Dan are thin and irritating but in admittedly understandable ways. Dan is a man who fails to own up to his actions, and Jen is a woman who can’t seem to get away from a man she clearly hates.
Extending Your Grasp
The shining stars of Brightwood are its two actors. Having an audience follow two very hateful characters is an immensely tough task to give yourself as a filmmaker, but with the two fantastic performances at its disposal, Brightwood, at the very least, stays as an engrossing watch thanks to the pure engagement that comes from its two characters.
Where Brightwood begins to falter, however, is in the plotting and length of its narrative. At 84 minutes, there’s an unshakable feeling that crops up around the middle that, due to the ultra-low budget, there’s really not much the film can do to keep things exciting. Although the performances are strong, the plot around them begins to lose steam beyond the first act. It’s undeniably commendable just how Brightwood squeezes out of its premise despite the inherent restrictions in place by its budget, but this also, unfortunately, acts as the film’s crutch.
‘Brightwood’ – Final Thoughts
When Brightwood focuses on its existential horror of being stuck in time with the person you deeply resent, it’s a finely crafted film that does a lot with what little resources it has at its disposal—however, any attempts to go beyond this lead to the film extending its reach too far. Had Dane Elcar tightened up the film’s pace, I think we’d have a fantastic indie horror film on our hands. As it stands, we have a film that’s undeniably strong in potential and craft but not quite able to rise to the level of greatness it deserves.
Check out the trailer for Brightwood below:
