Brightwood (2022) User Reviews

An overall fun if somewhat problematic genre effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 3 May 2023]

Going through a rough patch in their marriage, a couple trying to put it behind them with a heated exercise section around a nearby lake in the woods are confronted with the terrifying prospect of being trapped in the area and unable to leave as they're chased by shadowy figures.

This was a generally enjoyable and likable genre effort. Most of this is based on the highly effective and trippy sense of atmosphere built up that border on the nightmarish. The longer the two wanders around the woods running into each other, bumping into each other coming up behind the other unexpectedly, being unable to find their directional bearings, coming across strange beings or objects left in their way, or encountering a series of weird sensory phenomenon, these aspects provide a fantastic nightmare-logic setup. These situations are effectively eerie and unsettling while being unnerving enough to let the action present play out as there's quite a lot of fun to be had once they get to the second half and the scenario gets far wilder and bloodier which makes for some fun to be had here. There are some big factors against this one. Among the biggest issues is the overall repetitive nature of what's going on here as there's not a lot of variation found throughout the film. It's easy to notice that this one falls into a formulaic pattern of the two yelling at each other, encountering something supernatural that prevents them from leaving and continuing the process several times over which shows off the incredibly weak storyline here. Rather than do something with this type of setup of them meeting versions of themselves in alternate timelines, there's nothing here that hasn't been seen in this type of storyline setup before so it's not all that original. These factors are enough to bring this one down somewhat from what it could've been based on its positives.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

Interesting

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 25 November 2022]

Dan (Max Woertendyke) and Jen (Dana Berger) are in the type of relationship where you start to wonder what it would be like without the other person. He's embarrassed her yet again and as she runs to clear her head, he tries to follow her. The only problem? It feels like they keep going around again and again, around the same path, going through the same motions, the paranormal version of what it's like to be with each other.

They're not alone, as the trail around the pond has others who are trapped and doomed to wander in circles as well. Can they escape?

Based on director and writer Dane Elcar's short film The Pond, this is a dark story that progressively gets grimmer. Some couples are like that, endless going through the motion, one trying to stay ahead of the other, both realizing that they are trapped.

Circuitous

[amymay-69916 · 5/10 · 14 February 2024]

But watchable. I main thing that was fascinating was how the script looped and everything blended together yet was a new angle of a scene seen previously. That was kind of cool. The acting was good for a two person movie,which is also a feat (I've only seen a few movies with a limited cast of 1-3 people) wife actress played her role well--i kind of wanted to sta(b) HER in the neck!! Husband actor performed nicely also. Weird twist ending that I kind of saw coming,but not to THAT extent!! Overall,a decent movie--doesn't tie up any loose ends, or even have a true resolution,but still somehow managed to be viewable.

In the woods no-one can hear you yawn

[quinnm-74974 · 3/10 · 13 January 2024]

They tried their best. It had potential, it could have been good but man they let it slip by over complicating it.

I enjoyed to an extent. Only two actors, good chemistry between them. Perhaps to much couple arguments to give the impression all was not well in the relationship. First half was fine but I never really got what was going on. Some time travelling, some sci fi, not horror.

They are looking for a path but they are on the trail. No basic knowledge of using the sun to get out of the wood which is basically in suburbia. The wood itself also isn't much, the trees are to young to give the real horror vibe.

Watch if you have nothing else to do but don't expect much.

Was this a high school project?

[onceoffaddress · 9 January 2024]

Let's start by addressing the acting: horrible.

The dialogue: Forced, stilted, unrealistic, dumb and cookie cutter. Literally no one talks like that couple in the real world!

Their reaction to what they discover as the main problem they are faced with is so laid back they even crack jokes! Imagine a movie that is trying to be grounded, serious and scary having scenes where a guy being chased by a lion shouts to the lion "Woah... dude, not my a__se! You crazy!?". That's this film.

Or if aliens landed and the people in the movie reacts with casual dismissal before carrying on with hteir lives. That's this film.

I went in seeing it was low budget and giving it a pass because of that... but really, what was the director thinking?

Round and round and round we go...

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 6 March 2024]

Indie horror Brightwood, from director Dane Elcar, stars Dana Berger and Max Woertendyke as Jen and Dan, a married couple who have hit a rocky patch in their relationship. Having disgraced himself while drunk at a social gathering, Dan tries to patch things up with Jen as she jogs around a local pond, but things take a very unexpected turn when the pair discover that they are unable to find the trail that leads home and realise that they have become caught in a temporal glitch that sees them encountering multiple versions of themselves.

Although beautifully shot, with decent performances from its cast of two, Brightwood cannot escape the fact that it's a full length film stretched out from Elcar's earlier 2018 short The Pond, which appears to have been fairly derivative in the first place, the inescapable location smacking of Blair Witch and the time loop reminiscent of Triangle. Berger and Woertendyke do the best they can with their parts, combining tension with humour, and I like the way that the film draws parallels between being trapped in a failing marriage and being trapped in a nightmarish perpetual time loop, but after a while I felt like I was caught in an infinite loop myself, as the film - much like it's characters - covers the same ground over and over again.

For me, the final scene is the best part of the film, revealing how Jen and Dan have become closer as a result of their ordeal and have found a way to survive at all costs.

Unique and entertaining.

[xxxxxdarkmoon · 6/10 · 16 January 2024]

Have you watched the trailer? Usually I think that it is the better idea to watch a movie without any information before watching. In this case, it's the better idea to watch the trailer first, because the director and writer explains in it, how his movie has to be understood. It is his attempt to describe a bad relationship (or marriage) in a symbolic way.

I am one of the few people who have found true love, and in my opinion that is the greatest happiness you can find in life. We are soul mates and together for 39 years, without a marriage.

But I had to go through a few toxic relationships first.

The movie shows in a symbolic way what you go through in a bad relationship. When it is not true love and you stay together anyway for reasons that have nothing to do with the relationship anymore. Such as money or obligations.

The alternative of true love is ego based love. Unfortunately, it almost always starts with it. It is that big falling in love sensation when we are blinded. We do anything to impress the partner during that phase. And it's never eternal, it always ends. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's over. It's just that phase which comes to an end.

Suddenly we see the imperfections of our partner. All of us are imperfect - by the way. So, when that phase comes to an end, and we notice the imperfections, that is the moment when we either accept them - which increases the chances of finding true love massively, or we don't accept it. In that case it is advised to end the relationship. If we don't end it and stay together, this is what we call a toxic ( a bad) relationship. It is what this movie is describing - again: in a symbolic way.

A very unique movie.

Quite bloody in the last 30 minutes.

But also entertaining. And scary.

A very unique movie with 2 actors who are doing good.

I mean, really, who writes this garbage

[rodw-77-924268 · 1/10 · 18 February 2024]

It started with a lot of promise and seemed to be building into something really interesting.

There was a lot of potential here to create a great story and taken it to a decent conclusion but the writer just went off with the fairies.

We are taught, at school, that a story needs a beginning, a middle and and end. This had the first two but careened off the rails into a massive train wreck.

It just made no sense, at all, and I cannot understand anyone giving it a 10. Perhaps they were watching a different movie, with a different ending or, sorry, simply any ending would have done.

This is just pulp and could not recommend it even if you were desperate for anything.

Very effective indie horror!

[claybboy · 8/10 · 29 August 2023]

I *really* enjoyed this one!

I famously struggle with films like this because they make my brain hurt. That being said, this was wonderful - and didn't give me a headache trying to understand the logistics, I just went with it and had a fantastic time!

The scenario is terrifying - literally, nightmare fuel! I also found it very darkly funny - Dana Burger's Jen made me laugh very loudly more than a couple times.

I think the script is great, the performances do their job in investing me into the storyline, and the horrific moments are quite effective!

Highly recommend this indie gem! Movies like this prove that you don't always need a gigantic budget to make a movie! Go create art!

Stick around till the end of the credits for something very funny!

Great Indie Horror Movie

[walterflowers-33163 · 8/10 · 19 September 2023]

Does a lot with a basic premise. Two characters, one breaking up with the other with no reason for the audience to like either one of them. Are they all ways like this or do they bring out the worst in each other? How long has their relationship been this bad (seems like a long time). Was it ever healthy between them? They become trapped in a vortex jogging around this small lake. So it's all about tension, the tension between the couple, the tension between them and their situation. For a movie with so much tension from beginning to end it was easy to watch. The acting was great as was the suspense. Highly recommend, but know going in you're going to be watching a dysfunctional couple fighting for most of the movie.

"Time for lust, time for lie,Time to kiss your life goodbye."

[DoorsofDylan · 8/10 · 19 December 2022]

After finding the backwoods Twilight Zone-style Sci-Fi/ Horror To Freddy(2020-also reviewed) to be wonderful, I was pleased to spot, what sounded like a film (somewhat) from the same part of the genre, was going to be screened/ streamed at the Cine-Excess Film Festival, which led to me entering the brightwood.

View on the film:

Snapping out of time at the same time as their relationship snaps, Dana Berger and Max Woertendyke give excellent performance as Jen and Dan, thanks to them both capturing a worn-down casual attitude to the bickering, which gets twisted into a long cold shock of fear,as they find themselves unable to escape from the negative loop of their relationship and the location.

Brightened up in the woods,editor/ cinematographer/writer/ director Dane Elcar makes a wonderful feature film debut with a slithering atmosphere that keeps everything off- center, via stylish, low-hanging tracking and dolly shots sinking the audience into the loop Dan and Jen are trapped in.

Backed by a shimmering score from Jason Cook which captures the disappearance of moving time, Elcar cleverly dips Jen and Dan into a gradual awareness of the horror they are held in, wrapping the couple in altering film speeds, smash-cut close-ups, and eerie wide-shots,on the stilted woods and pond.

Dipping into the deep pond of their breaking romance, the screenplay by Elcar laces the Sci-Fi Horror backwoods dread with the nightmare of Dan and Jen struggling to break out of the relationship of negativity that the couple are stuck in a loop in, inside the bright wood.

Super great horror flick

[adriennefranco · 10/10 · 14 November 2023]

Buckle up for a rollercoaster of chills and spine-tingling thrills in the latest horror flick! The cinematography paints a canvas of darkness, while the eerie soundtrack orchestrates a symphony of suspense. Jump scares lurk around every corner, and the plot twists are as unexpected as a bolt of lightning on a stormy night. The characters dance with their deepest fears, and the climax is a crescendo of terror that will leave you hauntingly satisfied. A masterpiece that turns nightmares into a captivating reality! I absolutely loved it and highly recommend watching this movie! Super great flick!

Saucer's Security-System Is Glitching.

[ultamadum · 9/10 · 5 April 2024]

That's my assessment of what's going-on as Jen climbs out of the lake and we see overhead shots of the water... 'with something down there'. Having previously spotted 'something glinting' in the reeds, the camera presents a shot of a 'device' creating machine-made ripples and a thin blue beam, which she's reaching-for.

I could only conclude that the woods are a landing-site of some sort and the time-loop is a security-shield that stopped functioning correctly. Jen and Dan just happened to be on-hand, dealing with a relationship that isn't functioning correctly.

It's a subliminally-beautiful film. Dynamic. Mysterious. Well-written. Well-casted.

Indie Horror At Its Best

[bleedingstar-25337 · 8/10 · 15 September 2023]

The $14K budgeted movie just gave me a much better time than just about any big budget horror/sci-fi flick I've watched in the last few years. Starts of briefly as a domestic drama before morphing into a bit of thriller, than gets into the horror before revealing the high concept of its plot. Don't want to give anything away, as its best to not know what is coming, but this was brilliantly done, and I'm still thinking about the significance of the ending. The two leads also killed it, as they have to portray quite a few different sides to their characters. Looking forward to whatever Dane Elcar does next.

A New Take on a Classic Trope

[brianloreevans · 10/10 · 31 October 2023]

The Groundhog Day trope may feel tired, but there's something fresh in this take on repetition. The two actors manage the impossible feat of out-performing past versions of themselves at every turn, and they do it well.

This feature, done on a budget, maintains the charm and playfulness of an indie while holding to a level of professionalism that is rare in it's class. The camera work is atmospheric, gritty. The practical effects often feel inspired and meticulously shot. The actors carry a weight of dialogue and action, and a lesser pair would have struggled with the load- not these two.

The highest praise I have to give- my wife and I talked about it and our thoughts long after the credits finished rolling.

Underrated

[ebeckstr-1 · 8/10 · 20 April 2024]

Brightwood combines elements of Groundhog Day (1993), Triangle (2009), and domestic drama in a taut, unpredictable story which defies expectations. The excellent script deftly moves from one set of genre elements and expectations to another, and it's unlikely you'll guess where it's going and where it will end. This script, combined with a few practical effects, good acting, and an atmospheric score, make for an underrated film, and one of the best wibbly wobbly, timey wimey movies in a while. Brightwood should be on everyone's time travel and sci-fi watch list. Now I guess I have to keep typing characters to meet the limit. There we go.