Brightwood (2023)
Directed by Dane Elcar
Written by Dane Elcar
Starring Dana Meryl Berger, Max Woertendyke
Release Date August 22nd, 2023
Published August 22nd, 2023
Brightwood is a trip. A bickering couple goes for a run. The husband whines and complains, the wife won't stop listening to a podcast. He wants to go home but can't because he's trying to spend time with her as he feels his marriage is disintegrating. She would like to run alone but feels a pull from who they used to be and lets him come along. They go for a run around a local pond and something supernatural occurs. The couple becomes trapped in the forest, unable to escape and seeing strangers in the woods who may or may not be hostile.
Jen (Dana Meryl Berger) and Dan (Max Woertendyke) have an immediately tense chemistry. Their bickering is charged with various slights and a lengthy history of misdeeds and miscommunication. The night before this run that they are on, the couple was at a party where an inebriated Dan appeared to flirt with everyone there, much to Jen's increasing irritation. Dan thinks he was just being friendly but tries to apologize, though Jen isn't particularly interested.
As he struggles to keep up, Jen says she's going to the pond for a few laps. Dan wants to quit but also doesn't want his wife to have the last word in their conversation. He follows along and the two end up in an unfamiliar spot. There is something off about the trail on this day, something Jen can't quite put her finger on. Eventually, after a lap, she can't find the path they came in on. More attempts to leave, more times arriving back where they started.
Find my full length review at Horror.Media
