In many respects, a good way to sum up the sylvan horror of Woodland Grey is with the old adage, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. It’s an unusual film, calling on some familiar horror elements, but then in other ways completely rejecting these, in order to create something far more introspective, fractured and surreal.
From the very beginning, the film asks questions, questions, questions. It begins in the middle of some mysterious, stressful event, with a man (Ryan Blakely) leaving his rundown trailer in the woods to investigate a strange sound… we don’t, at this juncture, discover what is going on. The next day, life seems to go mutely on – he hunts, he makes a fire – but he’s given to casting odd looks towards a small, locked-up building a little way away from his camp. This may be yet another of the film’s already growing list of questions, questions, questions, but a rather more pressing one comes with the nameless man’s imminent discovery of an unconscious, injured woman in the woods.
He brings her home. She revives, disorientated and scared of course, but, as her injuries won’t allow her to move very much, she reluctantly accepts the man’s help. He is not used to company, and finds her conversation quite a challenge – but it’s when this girl, Emily (Jenny Raven) herself discovers the locked building (and what seems to be inside it) that their relationship becomes more… strained. Steadily, as the film adds additional information about why Emily came to the woods when she did, the plot weaves together in a very interesting way – pulling audience loyalties here, there and everywhere. Emily’s early attempts at conversation with the man are tonally odd and stilted, and whilst the man is still an unknown quantity, this troubled, loner character seems most deserving of sympathy. But, through careful plot layering, this response shifts. Characterisation is expansive here, able to subvert expectations, even whilst dialogue and exposition are doled out very sparsely.
Sylvan horror is always a favourite. Best of all is where films are able to embed ‘the woods’ as a character in their own right, and even where ideas and development are lacking, some nicely-shot woodland scenes are often enough to contribute at least some decent atmosphere. ‘The woods’ are definitely character-worthy here, with some intriguing exposition. Ideas are certainly not lacking and it is pleasingly difficult to predict where things are going. Actually, though, for the most part the film feels quite claustrophobic, and any sense of the scale of the woods is held back for most of the running time, with the camp and its environs really feeling like a very very small space hemmed in by trees, to the point that it’s inescapable.
The plot’s progress, with gradual invocations of something very weird, profound and all-encompassing, is able to hold interest, albeit there’s a slight lull around the hour mark as the characters reset before being drawn further into their own nightmare scenarios. Along the way, and as per the title maybe, this is a pale, washed-out, cold looking film, very sparse in its beauty. It’s almost dwarfed by its soundtrack in places, which offers a varied blend of delicate and looming; you are led to understand that you will feel unsettled via the soundscape on offer, which works very well with the tone of the film.
Woodland Grey is difficult to review without spoilering, but suffice to say that it is a largely low-key, reality-disrupting film which draws you in to its strange world. It could have done without some of the looping false conclusions, perhaps, and its increasingly surreal direction will lose some viewers, but many more will enjoy picking through the deeper meanings here, appreciating that the film dodges the expected. Regardless of a couple of minor issues, this film is disconcerting, smart and creepy.
Woodland Grey (2021) will receive its World Premiere at the Blood In The Snow Film Festival on Monday, November 22nd 2021. For more information, click here.