Surviving Crooked Lake (2008)

Review by: Jessica Baxter
Directed and Directed by Sascha Drews. Ezra Krybus, Matthew Miller
Featuring Alysha Aubin, Candice Mausner, Morgan McCunn, Stephannie Richardson, Guy Yarkoni

A group of nature-loving girls who have been best summer camp friends forever decide to embark on one last canoe trip into the Canadian wilderness. Steph harbors a slight fear of water ever since she watched her father drown, so her older brother, Jonah, agrees to chaperone the excursion for moral support. Regrettably, as the title suggests, things don't go quite as smoothly as they'd planned...

Actually, I vastly prefer the original title, Portage. It's not ideal, but it's more inspired than just another present participle title. I really hate those fuck(ing) things. Besides, Surviving Crooked Lake could refer to just about anything that might go wrong at a lake. Portage evokes a more precise image of the strife that these girls are fated to endure.

At first, Jonah is a good chaperone. Apart from doling out the odd cigarette to minors, he appears to be effectively looking after them. He delivers a nice older brother pep talk to Steph and patiently sits with her while the other girls cliff dive. Inevitably, however, hormones rear their pesky heads. Jonah and Morgan get involved in some teen drama that sends the latter running off and the former following her. High-speed foot chases are never wise in the dark woods, and Jonah pays the ultimate price for a moment of indiscretion. And then the girls are alone.

At this point, the fun part of the trip is definitely over. The girls must navigate their way back to civilization. Steph wants to bring Jonah's body and Morgan backs her up, but it's a very heavy load for four girls who are 90-pounds soaking wet. The logical thing is obviously to leave the dead weight (snap) behind and come back for him. But they give in to Steph's sentimentality and fashion a gurney for the body. In their haste and confusion, they leave behind the food.

Things go from bad to worse as they encounter rapids, torrential downpours and wild animals. Steph starts to lose it a little. It doesn't help that a water-marinated, sun-baked Jonah doesn't exactly smell like a Virginia ham. The girls have to make some tough decisions if they're going to survive.

We've all seen the nature survival story before. We've even seen it with young kids. We've seen it with a girl and a boy. We've even seen it with cats and dogs. But we've never seen it with all young girls. (Traveling with pants definitely does NOT count.) These are some outdoorsy chicks. Though they've barely seen 14 summers, they know how to build a fire and understand the concept of a pulley system. There is very little screaming or crying, which, under the circumstances, is damned impressive. They know that whining won't get them out of this mess. But critical thinking and making tough decisions will. They definitely give that Christopher McCandless asshole a run for his money.

From a filmmaking standpoint, Surviving Crooked Lake channels a definite Gus Van Sant vibe. The acting, dialogue and camera work are all very naturalistic. Occasionally, they overdo it with the focus pulling. (Out-of-focus docu-style. We get it.) But mostly, it works to create a very gripping story of tough chicks overcoming the ultimate adversity. It's a shame about the title.

Rating: (4 out of 5):