Geekscape Goes to Sundance 2012: Black Rock
Black Rock is a movie that could have been better. The core creative ideas behind it are sound and genre appropriate; the problem is that at the end of the day the suspense, tension and fear under-deliver. Set on a remote island off the coast of Maine, it is a story of three women as they find themselves having to fight for survival, after they encounter three hunters and cause a tremendous tragedy. The problem is that the hunt does not deliver on both sides: after the females decide to “stalk” the hunters, the film directly proceeds to a final confrontation. The males who vow to kill each and every one of the ladies fail to even come close to finding the ladies’ hiding place.
Written largely on Mark Duplass’ 18-hour layover to Los Angeles, the end product feels like it is missing a couple beats throughout the 2nd act. Perhaps limited by its budget, this is a film that has a weak pay-out after starting off with a very strong beginning. After the press screening, people hung outside for half an hour, discussing what could have been added to make the film great – there were many awesome ideas, unfortunately none of these were in the film.
Katie Aselton centered a lot of aspects of the film on herself. She conceived of the story, she directed the feature, and she acted in the main part. Perhaps because she did ‘live with these characters so long in her head’, as she has said about the movie, she failed to see as a director that the switch, especially in her character from being hunted to wanting to be the hunter, was not sufficiently developed. She stresses that she hoped for an air of realism from begging to end. For a person to decide to become an aggressor and take someone’s life, is a nuanced decision and warranted a few extra beats of discussion or expression. There is no real exploration of ‘how does one become ruthless’, and this is a great missed opportunity. The men were also not that scary, only the situation was. They did not need to be more physically intimidating, but rather the story could have made them scarier.
Aselton had never done a film in this genre, and inspired by Delivarance decided to make one. This film has nowhere the same plot richness as Deliverance, and perhaps even a little bit more familiarity with the genre would have made the film significantly better.
On the good side, the music complemented the story nicely, and there was nice camera work in the beautiful Maine forest. Though in their decision to showcase the trees, there are quite a few slightly distracting shots with an out of focus foreground. The quick bout of nudity is well done and well placed, as the ladies are trying to prevent hypothermia. Kate Bosworth does a great job, and demands attention on screen, but she is not given enough screen time.
The film did sell, LD Distribution bought it for more than $1 million and plans a national theatrical release. However, do save yourself the $10-$14 for a ticket, and if you really, really want to see it, wait for it on DVD or VOD.
