User Reviews

This film is clearly not for everyone, judging by viewers' comments; I, on the other hand, loved it. I didn't want to pause the film for anything. That never happens. I recognized this character as a woman facing unbearable loss and grief, and not caring whether she lived or died. Yet, she made the only choice that could conceivably lead her back to caring about life, she walked into, not away from, her pain and loneliness. She had only that pain for company and that is how she survived it, by facing it head on, alone, with no distractions, in the realness, and wildness of nature and survival. I recognized something fundamental, even primal, in this story and in Wright's portrayal.

After suffering personal losses, Edee (Robin Wright) moves to an isolated cabin in the woods. She wants to leave the world behind. She struggles and comes close to starving to death when passing hunter Miguel (Demián Bichir) comes to her rescue.

Robin Wright is making her theatrical directing debut. It's a very competent effort. This is a rather quiet uncomplicated movie anyways. Most of it is her alone in the world. It's more about her acting. She leaves behind her makeup and uses all the cracks on her face. She and Bichir have good quiet chemistry. The story is fairly standard for this type of movie. The ending is a bit touching. This is mostly good.

Greetings again from the darkness. In her 35 year career, Robin Wright has created many memorable big screen roles, including: Princess Buttercup in THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987), Jenny in FORREST GUMP (1994), and Antiope in the WONDER WOMAN franchise. She entertained many of us as the complex Claire Underwood in "House of Cards", a series for which she also directed 10 episodes. However, this is Ms. Wright's feature directorial debut, and she also stars in this introspective story from co-writers Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam.

City slicker Edee (Ms. Wright) decides to go "off the grid". Through flashbacks we are able to intuit that she is grieving deeply, and both her therapist and sister (Kim Dickens) are concerned about her suicidal tendencies. Edee loads up a U-Haul trailer and in the ultimate sign of 'dropping out of society', she ceremoniously dumps her cell phone in a trash can. The road takes her to the Rocky Mountains region of Wyoming, where she plops down the money for a remote ... extremely remote ... rundown cabin with a breathtaking view. At this point, we question both her sanity and reasoning.

Through Edee's visions we catch glimpses of a man and young child, whom we can assume are her husband and son. An unknown devastating family tragedy, and realization that therapy is not the answer, have driven her to the point of needing to be alone with her pain - to get away from people. Of course, the harsh reality is that she doesn't know how to live off the land, and no "how to" book is going to teach her to chop wood, or hunt, trap and fish, much less survive the forces of nature. A visit from a bear ensures a shortage of supplies, and the brutal wintry cold combines to leave Edee wondering whether she will freeze to death before she starves to death.

Did she expect to die on this mountain or did she honestly think this life could rehabilitate her spirit to live? Would changing the view from skyscrapers to a majestic mountain range be enough to help her escape the darkness? Well, we never really get the answers, thanks to the just-in-time arrival of a hunter named Miquel (Oscar nominated Demian Bichir, A BETTER LIFE, 2011), who, along with local nurse Alawa (Sarah Dawn Pledge) help Edee regain her health after near death.

Miguel and Edee forge a bond as he teaches her the realities of living off the land. They exchange very little dialogue, but it's clear Miguel is dealing with his own form of suffering. He's a very practical and patient man, and when teaching her how to trap, he states, "Eating squirrels is motivation to get a deer." Can one person help another person re-discover the will to live? That's really the message of the film. We may prefer to be alone with our grief, but it's connecting with others that gives life meaning. As with Miguel and Edee, that connection may simply be someone "in my path".

As you might imagine, the film looks beautiful as it bounces between the immediacy of Edee in a cabin, and the vastness of the mountain vistas. Long-time cinematographer Bobby Bukowski (ARLINGTON ROAD, 1999) makes sure we experience the overwhelming beauty of nature (Alberta as a stand in for Wyoming), as well as its overwhelming danger. With minimal dialogue, much of the story is told through the nuanced physical acting from two pros, Ms. Wright and Mr. Bichir. Humor is injected through the use of Tears for Fears song, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", and though it's kind of a running gag, the song's lyrics are spot on. There is no magic cure for disabling grief, but the dream of self-discovery by getting "one with nature" can be idealistic without proper guidance. As the film relays, the best path is more likely to be a fellow human being simply doing the right thing. Opens in theatres on February 12, 2021

Script is not based on a book or true life story. As opposed to the movie" Into the Wild", which I also found frustrating to watch the main character's stupidity as they go into rugged terrain totally unprepared.

And what are the chances that Robin Wright is rescued by a handsome, age appropriate hunter who wants to take care of her ? This is an adult fairytale. With good scenery. A higher quality Hallmark Movie/Lifetime Movie. Too predictable. TV show script with movie quality cinematography. Nice soundtrack but I would definitely wait till it is FREE ---not worth the money.

Great movie of loss and reconciliation with ones soul. Lovely film.

Robin Wright directs and stars. It is roughly a two year slice of her life not long after she lost both her husband and her young son in a crime. Other than that we don't learn any backstory. Totally out of sorts she travels from Chicago to the fictional Wyoming area (filmed in Canada) and buys a cabin in the wilds, in a forest at elevation, inspired by a drawing from her son. Secluded, no phone, no internet, no TV, no running water, but with an outhouse. However it turns out she is totally unprepared for that life. She brings along a few supplies, has the rental car and trailer returned, and sets in to be a mountain woman. She figures she will trap, shoot, catch, and grow all that she needs. It doesn't go well for very long.

Fortunately she is discovered by patient and helpful locals, she eventually learns how to live there, all the while not sure how to deal with her PTSD from her tragic loss. As the movie ends there is light at the end of the tunnel.

This isn't a great movie but a good view since it is very well made. Plus the great scenery, surely some must have been filmed in the Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. No "extras."

I had a chance to watch this film at an online screening. It was filmed in my area, so I recognized and loved all the beautiful scenery. I tried to enjoy this film, the performance by the two main actors was very good. But, the entire time I was watching it I had one nagging though in my head - why didn't this woman learn ANY survival skills before chucking it all to go live in the wilderness? She only brought enough canned food for a couple of weeks, didn't know how to hunt, couldn't even chop wood. I was actually hoping she'd die, just to prove to people it's not that easy. I took 5 years of boy scout training, and I couldn't survive up there on my own. At least read some books first. This fact kept me from enjoying the film.

Maybe this is supposed to be metaphor. How no one is prepared for the wilderness that comes after a devastating loss. How the first months can feel- no survival skills, no means of communication, no way to get back. Maybe Demian Bechir is supposed to represent therapy and the process of learning how to live in this world and build something new.

OR maybe it's just people who have zero idea what they're talking about picking a random setting for some remarkably lazy and ridiculous storytelling.

Either way, this was dumb.

Honestly, I have a friend who did something similar a few years ago. Not from grief, but just moving to an off grid cabin. She has been studying this stuff for over a decade, homesteading, survival skills, camping, hiking, all that stuff. It was still a big struggle, and she didn't even do stupid things like emptying tuna water right off your front porch in bear country or leaving your firewood out in the snow (? Really? *That* level of stupid?) You have to keep your stove going all night in cabins like that if you don't want to freeze to death, and that's even if you don't have a large broken window (again, really? You don't even have to be a survivalist for that one, just pay your own heating bills). And I don't mean "pretty" freeze like robin wright. I mean the tip of your nose and a few of your fingers and maybe an ear ain't getting up off the floor of that cabin when you do. My point is, you don't have to make a character that stupid to show a time that's hard. That kind of living is hard and dangerous as it is.

And that's not even mentioning the unbelievability of the ridiculously fortuitous, capable, handsome sacrificial hunter who just happens to find her in the middle of her own property, or the fact that she suddenly sprouts some magic homesteading skills after she meets him. I won't say survival, because even with those, she spends a lot of time just staring off into nature instead of constantly pulling water, canning, or chopping firewood like most homesteaders do. She seems to rely a lot on Bechier to bring her stuff. You'd think one of the first things she'd do is ask him to take her to get a car and phone after seeing how dumb she was to give them away.

Anyway, this movie is ridiculous. You can't even call it a feel good movie because of Bechir's ending, which just seemed like another lazy trope from the "writers". It's supposed to bring back the poignancy I guess, but it just adds to the treacle and ridiculousness.

Not worth your time. Certainly not worth your dollar.

The scenery is really pretty though.