Movie Review: Walking Out

Despite its Grand Jury Prize nomination at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Walking Out has kept a surprisingly low profile.

Adapted from a short story and directed by brothers Andrew and Alex Smith, the film centres on a father and his estranged teenage son who head into the wilds of Montana on a hunting expedition.

David (Josh Wiggins) is a soft urbanite who doesn't belong among the wind-swept tundra, much to his dad's annoyance. The two struggle to bond, although Cal, (Matt Bomer), is determined to impart some fatherly advice.

Unfortunately, the wilderness can be a cruel mistress and the pair are forced to bond for all the wrong reasons as they find themselves fighting for their survival.

Walking Out deftly balances its tension with tender moments that insightfully express a father-son dynamic. Bomer and Wiggins competently carry the weight of this film's heavy heart with nuanced performances that feel convincing and authentic.

The film is content to tell a simple, elegantly tense story that's worth wearing out the edge of your seat for.

Its haunting soundtrack ratchets tension with a discordant score working in chorus with the eerie calls of big game wildlife, while the stunning camera work further enhances the films visual style and sketches a mountainous Montana in all its remote beauty.

Walking Out will most likely strike a chord with the fathers and sons in the audience, although the film stands alone as a strong piece of cinema that stubbornly remains in your mind.

Walking Out opens in New Zealand theatres this summer and is well worth the wait.

Cast: Matt Bomer, Josh Wiggins
Director: Andrew and Alex Smith
Running time: 95 mins
Rating: M (Offensive language)
Verdict: A simple, yet elegantly tense, film.

DID YOU KNOW...

Michael Fassbender and Margot Robbie were originally set to the play the leads in The Mountain Between Us, before they dropped out and were replaced by Charlie Hunnam and Rosamund Pike. The film finally went into production with Kate Winslet and Idris Elba as the leads.