Writer: Michael Eichler
Director: Penny Gkritzapi
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Great Premise, Needs Work“
2.5 / 5
Alyssa, Kayla and Leslie joined the women’s trail hiking club to meet likeminded people and escape for a weekend immersed in nature and tranquillity. But, when a radio bulletin informs them of a group of escaped inmates from the nearby prison, the remote cabin in the woods quickly turns from dreamy to dangerous.
The premise of Michael Eichler’s tense thriller is immediately gripping, with huge amounts of potential to completely captivate the audience with a nail-biting, conversation starting production, but the execution just doesn’t quite hit the mark. In the first act, we’re introduced to the three hikers – nervous Alyssa (Juliana Galassi) is the most unexperienced – she lives in Texas and is mainly using this hiking trip to try and overcome her xylophobia (fear of wooded areas). Colorado native Leslie (Olivia Cordell) on the other hand is a pro, and happy to remind everyone of that at every option she gets. Her sarcastic, mean girl personality intimidates Alyssa, much to her enjoyment. Kayla (Julia Thurston) acts as the peacemaker between the two, although she shares a lot of similarities with Leslie, she’s empathetic towards Alyssa, and more than anything, just wants the hiking trip to be drama free and as fun as possible.
The three personalities do clash slightly, but overall they agree on enough to at least be civil for the weekend – their joint hatred for Trump and their love for wine quickly giving them a mutual platform to work from. After their first day of hiking they realise their keys, cars and cabin host have all gone missing, so when the news breaks of the escaped prisoners, the atmosphere abruptly changes. The girls, and the audience are completely on edge, with the tense revelation excitingly opening multiple possibilities of where the storyline could head. But, just at the height of the suspense, there is an interval, and frustratingly, the second act never manages to claw back that feeling of anticipation or excitement, and instead disappointingly falls quite flat.
The second half has glimmers of potential when the gun is found, and the inherent discussions surrounding politics, gun ownership and racism are current, important and thought-provoking, but the manner in which they’re often discussed, feels stilted and shoehorned into the plot, rather than coming across natural and genuine. The ‘Lifetime movie’ style dialogue becomes corny and winds up diluting some of the messages that are presented due to lack of conviction. At points, it almost feels like a box being ticked, as a random provocation about race or politics is made, to ensure that it gets included, rather than fully getting the focus and attention it deserves. It would be more enjoyable if those comments are introduced in a more authentic way, to avoid disrupting the flow within the script and allow the audience to fully ruminate about the impact of some of the characters ideologies.
While this show may not be the breath of fresh mountain air I was hoping for, the foundations are definitely there – and with a bit of tweaking (and definitely the removal of an interval!), this could be the gripping, social commentary it is intended to be.
Runs until 18th January 2025
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