会社の研修旅行で、同僚のメーガンと森の中にある古びたロッジに向かったザック。そこで、リーダーのデールを含め6人は仕事半分、遊び半分で3日間を過ごすことに。だが、口が悪くセクハラまがいのジョークを飛ばしては仲間に絡むテディをはじめ、メンバーはあまり仲もよくなく、初日から不穏な空気が漂っていた。翌朝、1人で散歩に出かけたリタが、1日が経過しても戻らなかったことから、手分けして捜すことに。一方、留守番を託されたメーガンは、屋根裏部屋でこのロッジがかつて精神科病院で、児童虐待事件が起きていたと記された新聞記事を見つける。
AIが作品の魅力を深く読み解いています
**_Seven people take a getaway to a cabin in the woods (no, really)_** Several team-members of a media company take a retreat in the Big Bear area of SoCal, along with the wannabe hottie’s beau. A dubious caretaker lurks nearby. When people start coming up missing, the questionable history of the renovated lodge is unearthed. “Silent Retreat” (2016) is a micro-budget Indie with the typical issues thereof, but it includes practically all of the staples required in a cabin-in-the-woods flick. Critics complain about “bad acting” and how all the characters are “unlikable,” but this is not true. The script is well-written and the no-name actors strike the right tone for the material, mostly serious but some of them with a wink of hammy-ness. There are only two disagreeable characters, the goofball who tries too hard to be amusing (because he pathetically needs attention) and the loose Jezebel. We’ve all met people in real-life just like these two; they’re just slightly exaggerated and comical here. Indie horror or not, the locations are excellent, the drama is consistently entertaining, and the writer/director successfully implements an unexpected twist in the final act. I also like how the lying “Jezebel” (Devon Ogden) and the crude clown (Eli Bildner) are contrasted by the petite Christian lass (Trista Robinson) and the winsome protagonist (Rebecca Summers), not to mention the noble Zac (Donny Boaz). One character rightly observes that the goofball never takes anything serious, but watch his change in demeanor in the second half. Remember the beginning of “The Edge” (1997), which took place at a beautiful lodge in the western wilderness? Now imagine an entire movie with that setting, albeit on a modest budget featuring a different challenge and with a bit o’ humor. That’s this film. Some people don’t appreciate micro-budget horror flicks; I do, at least when they deliver the goods. The movie runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot at Big Bear Lake, which is about 95 miles east of Los Angeles in the high country; other locations include Angelus Oaks, Trabuco Canyon and Anaheim. GRADE: B-/C+
