Netflix Survival Horror Will Make You Never Want To Go Camping Again
Like camping? That’s great, but we’re about to fully ruin it for you by suggesting that for your next movie night, you head over to Netflix and check out the film Backcountry. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to not step outside of your house and go into the forest but a film about a man-eating black bear will surely take it the extra mile.
Directed by Adam MacDonald, in what would serve as the actor’s first foray into feature-length filmmaking, the scripted production is just as harrowing as any docuseries or podcast centered around the dangers of the outdoors.
Not A Cellphone In Sight, Just People Enjoying The Moment
Further upping the ante, it’s right about now that we’d like to inform you that Backcountry is semi-based on a true story that involved a harrowing showdown between two people and a black bear. In the film, a couple named Alex (Jeff Roop) and Jenny (Missy Peregrym) go camping in a provincial park in Canada to take a trip down memory lane and hike a trail that Alex remembers from his younger years.
To say that Alex makes some poor decisions would be an understatement, as along with refusing a park map from the ranger upon arrival, he also leaves their cellphones in the car because he’s afraid that Jenny will be on hers the entire time they’re camping.
Not The Desired Vibe
Obviously, tensions are running high between the pair and things only get worse in Backcountry after Alex wanders off trail in search of a lake that he remembers from back in the day. Instead, he finds some giant bear tracks and, just like that, the movie takes off like rocket fuel, pitting the crabby couple against a man-eating black bear. Stuck in the wilderness with nowhere to go, Alex and Jenny need to change their feelings about one another as fast as possible if they want to live to tell the insane tale.
They Say You Shouldn’t Poke The Bear …
The real story that inspired Backcountry is rather similar to the film as a couple named Mark Jordan and Jacqueline Perry did in fact try to get some peace and quiet while rejuvenating in nature at the Missinaibi Lake Provincial Park in Ontario. There, they would face the killer black bear which – as our more outdoorsy readers will know – is not a common occurrence, as black bears tend to be much more scare-able than their grizzly counterparts.
A Runaway Success
Celebrating its premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, Backcountry was an immediate success, with critics praising Adam MacDonald’s work in his big-screen filmmaking debut.
Outside of directing, MacDonald has enjoyed a solid career in front of the camera, appearing in films including Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and, more recently, as the voice of John Carver in Eli Roth’s slasher flick, Thanksgiving.
Fans of the CBC shows Being Erica, Wild Roses, and Rookie Blue will recognize him for his roles on these series as Josh MacIntosh, Peter McGregor, and Detective Steve Peck, respectively.
Stream Backcountry On Netflix If You Dare
Currently, Backcountry rests easily on Rotten Tomatoes with a 92% critics’ rating and can be found on Netflix alongside other similar survival stories such as the Nikolaj Coster-Waldau-led project Against the Ice and Society of the Snow.
