SURVIVING CROOKED LAKE (Sascha Drews, Matthew Miller, Ezra Krybus). 89 minutes. Opens Saturday (November 14) at the Regent. For venues, times and trailers, see Movies. Rating: NNN
Modest Canadian thriller Surviving Crooked Lake, playing matinees this weekend at the Regent, is a combination coming-of-age teen drama and survival thriller.[rssbreak]
It unfolds in a straight, grim line, as 14-year-old Stefh (Stephannie Richardson) and three friends (Alysha Aubin, Candice Mausner, Morgan McCunn) head out for a summer-camp canoe trip with Stefh’s brother Jonah (Guy Yarkoni) as their guide.
But things go wrong, someone ends up dead, and the remaining quartet must find their way back to civilization while lugging a heavy, uncooperative corpse.
The directors – who also variously shot, scripted and scored the project – do very well with the first and last thirds, shifting from hazy summertime languor to shock and panic, and moving into even darker territory in the final act.
It’s the middle movement that gives them trouble, when characters have the same arguments over and over as they slowly break down under pressure. But the filmmakers get things back under control in the end.
