The Retreat (2020) Review

 

The Retreat (2020)

The Retreat follows Gus, a man who, during a winter backpacking trip with his friend Adam, finds himself tormented by a wendigo.

Stumbled upon this flick from 377 Films yesterday and boy did it surprise. Movies about cryptids are few and far between, and the ones that do exist are typically very underwhelming, usually only being attempted by smaller, more independent studios like 377. Which is so crazy considering just how scary they can be because this is frightening. Tonally, there’s just enough to leave you rightfully on edge (though it doesn’t shy away from revealing the monster often). It goes to great lengths to make Gus’ descent into madness clear, but even as a viewer, it’s detachment from reality forces you to question what’s real and what’s fake in this mind bending film. It’s been hours now and I’m still struggling to understand if Gus actually killed Adam and ate him, or if the “happy” ending was just in his head.

The most impressive aspect I found was it’s ability to strike deep fear in you, using subtle glimpses of the wendigo and it’s little cannibal offshoots, as well as the drug induced trippiness, introduced early to make reality often indiscernible. It visually just makes you uneasy, all the while taking your breathe away in it’s haunting beauty. The movie does get slightly (an understatement) convoluted and confusing because it’s one of those show, don’t tell type of movies; which would be fine if it didn’t have 3 endings and various things thrown in with zero explanation.

The cast held up surprisingly well, featuring Chris Cimperman, Dylan Grunn, and Grant Schumacher. Grunn was a particularly nice touch of sanity to such an out there concept, with Schumacher really shining when he was allowed fo break free and go off the rails.

The Retreat, directed by Bruce Wemple, is an ingenious film with a terrific concept, one that was executed hauntingly well considering it likely had a very low budget. It effectively plays with the shifting barrier between visions and reality, while capitalizing on the Native American wendigo myth, which is already an underused genre of disturbing horror.

7.5/10