Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Into the Forest Blu-ray Movie Review

You say you want a 'Revolution'?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 7, 2016

Who here remembers Revolution: The Complete Series? This relatively short lived series (barely two seasons) was hyped at the time as the “natural successor” to the then recently departed Lost, an aspect that was overtly apparent due to shared creative staff like J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk, but perhaps nudged subliminally along by the participation of Elizabeth Mitchell in a featured role (Mitchell portrayed Juliet on Lost). Audiences were vocal but unfortunately not numerous enough for NBC to continue with the show, and only a relatively few rabid fans may even recall its general premise, which dealt with a post- Apocalyptic society attempting to deal without little conveniences like electricity. In fact, the show’s opening narration might provide a more or less accurate précis for Into the Forest:

We lived in an electric world. We relied on it for everything. And then the power went out. Everything stopped working. We weren't prepared. Fear and confusion led to panic. The lucky ones made it out of the cities. The government collapsed. Militias took over, controlling the food supply and stockpiling weapons. We still don't know why the power went out. But we're hopeful someone will come and light the way.

Into the Forest isn't especially subtle in parlaying literal "powerlessness" into an allegory for what two sisters experience in the wilds of California after an apparently devastating series of events that is smartly never fully defined leaves them stranded and fending for their sanity if not their lives.

A few transitory looks at some high tech gadgetry seems to suggest that Into the Forest is playing out in a slightly futuristic timeframe. That said, the family at the core of the drama, father Robert (Callum Keith Rennie) and daughters Nell (Ellen Page) and Eva (Evan Rachel Wood), are somewhat atavistic, at least as evidenced by their midcentury (like 20th century) home in need of roof repair, and an isolated ambience that has them out in the woods someplace, evidently far, far away from civilization. An opening quasi-montage shows both girls engaged in various activities, with Eva pursuing some modern dance moves while Nell is seen partying with Eli (Max Minghella). A bit later it turns out that Nell isn’t exactly the party girl she might seem and is in fact rather studiously preparing for her upcoming college entrance exams. A breaking news banner on the television warns of huge power failures up and down the west coast, at which point the family becomes one of the powerless statistics themselves.

Nell is so obsessed with studying that she actually pulls out that ancient technology, otherwise known as a “book,” and then goes on a snark hunt for flashlights, which leads to one of the film’s potentially annoying plot contrivances, when she finds one in the back of the family’s SUV but then doesn’t completely close the hatch, leading to the vehicle draining its battery overnight. That leaves a planned visit to the nearest burg to get gas and supplies on hold as Robert attempts to figure out how to get them the hell out of Dodge (or whatever their domicile might be called). Robert does in fact ultimately come up with a rather inventive way to spark the dead car, but by the time the trio gets into town, there are virtually no supplies left at the general store, and the creepy store attendant Stan (Michael Eklund) isn’t especially hospitable in any case.

Without doling out too many plot points that Into the Forest ends up offering, the girls ultimately end up on their own after a horrifying tragedy, and much of the film depicts their slowly growing awareness that whatever they thought their lives would hold in store, things have obviously changed dramatically. There are several nicely intimate scenes between the sisters, including a wonderful and even moving sequence where they manage to fire up some old home movies, something that gives added resonance not just to their current predicament, but to certain traumas the family had weathered in the past. Eli makes a reappearance and it seems that the sisters might be fated to go their separate ways, but in a cascading and probably too overwrought series of events, another horrifying incident occurs which casts the future in an entirely new light.

While a lot of Into the Forest is intellectually acute and emotionally meaningful, I’m not so sure some of the motivations, especially those concerning Eva and certain decisions she makes, really have the ring of truth. What works here is the absolutely riveting depiction of two sisters having to fend for themselves in a semi-civilized environment where the seams of societal order are starting to fray. Page (who also produced and was evidently the guiding light behind the project) and Wood do fantastic work, bringing a lived in and authentic quality to this sibling relationship. Director Patricia Rozema never really fully exploits the whole forested feeling of the film, and some might accuse one particularly unsettling sequence of being downright exploitative. But the film has an unusual grace and maturity that helps lift it above a lot of other post-Apocalyptic dramas.

Into the Forest Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Into the Forest is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Once again the IMDb provides no data on what was used to shoot the film, but this has the lustrous, smooth quality of digital capture, and the imagery, while often kind of gauzy due to misty forest environments, typically has very high levels of detail, at least in the better lit moments. A lot of the film plays out in natural lighting, or what is meant to look like candlelit environments, and the result is often very evocative if lacking in a bit of fine detail and shadow definition. Many of the outdoor sequences have a slight greenish tinge, something that does not materially affect detail levels.

Into the Forest Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Into the Forest's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is often subtle, utilizing the surround channels for environmental effects like the drip of rain through the roof of the girls' home, or the rustle of wind through the leaves of the surrounding forest trees. One visceral sequence involves Nell hunting a pig, and the sonics of that scene are a bit more intense. Otherwise, the film plays out in quieter dialogue scenes which don't provide a wealth of immersive opportunities but which are rendered cleanly and clearly with no problems whatsoever.

Into the Forest Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Patricia Rozema


• The Making of Into the Forest (1080p; 16:00) is a typical EPK, with perhaps a higher quotient of self congratulatory interviews than usual.

Into the Forest Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In a way Into the Forest plies a certain emotional mood that is reminiscent in a way of Stanley Kramer's On the Beach, insofar that while a post-Apocalyptic environment is part and parcel of the plot, it's actually the interrelationships of the characters that provides most of the drama. Both films have a somewhat languid pace as well, and this is not in any way, shape or form a slam bang action film. Performances are top notch, technical merits generally strong, and Into the Forest comes Recommended.