Review: In The Forest

Director: Hector Barron

Script: Hector Barron

Year: 2022

“In The Forest” presents me with a strange case in which it is easier for me to start with the conclusion and from there write the review. What affects this movie the most is that it doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be. This lack of identity does nothing but cause confusion and offers an inconsistent plot.

The plot of “In The Forest” follows Helen, who goes camping with her father and daughter in a forest. Once they arrive at the ideal place, they are confronted by a man, who tells them that they must leave the place since it is private property. However, the vehicle they arrived in gets stuck in the ground, and Helen's father gets injured while trying to get it unstuck. While looking for help for her father, Helen discovers some secrets of the place that puts everyone in danger.

At first glance, the plot in fellow director Hector Barron's script looks set to take the path of the protagonists being terrorized by a group of hostiles. After the accident that leaves Helen's father injured, the plot takes the slope of a family living in a remote place with a dark secret. This theme dominates most of the plot, but different changes of attention and ideas continue to be made that are extremely confusing.

Not only are these changes confusing, but they also raise a lot of questions. As expected with so many shifts in attention, most of these questions remain unanswered and leave many holes open in the script. Even in the end, elements continue to be added that do not add anything productive to the story and only generate more problems in its structure.

Apart from the problems in the plot, the dialogues are another impediment to the enjoyment of this movie. In general, the performances are not bad, but the poor dialogues make the conversations robotic, and the characters do not have the charisma or anything that helps us to be interested in it. And this is a big deal because the movie's first half is loaded with enough unnecessary dialogue to bore some viewers.

“In The Forest” has a severe problem, which is its script. Everything from how the plot is structured to how it unfolds on-screen is problematic for your enjoyment. As a result, it ends up being a movie with a fairly dry first half and a second half that improves on the entertainment factor but has so many holes in its story that it becomes untenable.