The Woods Are Real is a 2024 American political film with “a folk horror twist on the story of Job.” That’ll be Job from the Christian Bible. Zzzzzz.
The polemic piece was directed by Alix Lambert from a screenplay by Sean Lewis and main star Matt Dellapina.
The Little Ark Films-Bric TV production also stars Chinasa Ogbuagu, Campbell Scott, Nick Westrate, Jeffrey Omura, Kathleen McElfresh, Teresa Avia Lim, Laura Esposito, Tasha Milkman and Eli Hanson.
Plot:
Joba and Quincy are a privileged, fiercely progressive Brooklyn couple – they buy the right things, donate to the proper foundations, and march for every just cause. But when their friend, Caleb, returns from a country pilgrimage challenging their bleeding liberal hearts, Quincy is initially sceptical. Joba insists they take up an invitation to the same off-grid spot, they are met by a kitschy cabin in the woods peppered with analogue devices of a simpler age: a rotary phone, religious iconography, an Edison machine.
And when a curiously labelled record plays a menacing message, Joba and Quincy rapidly learn that their bank accounts have been drained, their digital records erased, and their family businesses are collapsing. They try to flee, only to grow more enveloped by the woods. With nothing left but the clothes on their backs, the couple find themselves trapped in a spiritual test of survival…
Reviews:
” …while The Woods Are Real may stumble at first with its strained hipster satire and some character work that never quite lands, once it dives into the untamed woodland realm it becomes an effectively moody, unsettling descent into primal terror. With Scott’s transfixing work at its core and an intelligent existential curiosity driving the dread, it’s a folk horror tale that puts uniquely American roots down in the genre.” Horror Facts
YouTube reviews:
Trailer:
Release:
In the US, Gravitas Ventures released The Woods Are Real on digital outlets on March 12, 2024.
