Feral (2017)

Six college students go hiking and one brings a fur coat.  Because the first rule of hiking is always bring your fur.  That night they sit around the fire and talk.  Everyone is in med school except for Jules.  

This group is a mix of people you won’t find appealing.  Matt proposes to his milquetoast girlfriend Brienne. Jessie is dating Gina but wishes he were with Alice.  Alice is dating Jules and their banter includes calling each other country girl and city girl.  I hate them already.

During the night Matt wanders off to relive himself. He walks and walks and walks. I’m not sure why he didn’t just go behind a tree near the edge of the camp but his Victorian modesty puts him in a distant place where he’s an easy target for an animal attack. When Brienne goes looking for him, she is also attacked. Inexplicably everyone can hear Brienne scream while no one heard Matt scream from the same location.

In the morning while trying to figure out how to get Brienne to safety, they run into Talbot who has a cabin in the woods.  He tells them it’s 20 miles to the service road that leads back to the parking lot. Since Talbot doesn’t have a phone, Jessie and Jules start walking. Jessie figures if they can walk at 4mph, they’ll be back before sundown.  That’s a pretty fast pace to maintain for a 20 mile walk. 

It’s not a great idea to have Alice’s girlfriend hike with the guy who wants to date Alice. And after an argument, Jessie ends up with his foot in a bear trap.  While you’d expect Alice to wedge branches in there to force it open far enough for him to get his leg out, she weakly pulls on it and then runs off to get help. Since they already know there is something deadly in the woods, Jules is not cool.

Surprisingly Jules finds her way back to the cabin even though it’s dark. Talbot tells them not to go outside to get Jessie because there is something in the woods that comes out at night. After some violent prodding, he reveals what is out there. He says they’re friends who were attacked are going to turn. Alice is suspicious but instead of trying to work with him or learn more, she locks him in the basement.  This is the first of many bad decisions that will make you realize the best parts of the movie are behind you.

Ridiculous dialogue

It’s like a cellar or something. [said after opening a trap door to a basement]

Her hat is twice the size of her head