Fantastic Fest Continues With The Wilderness Thriller ‘Bark’ (2023)

It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year for genre festival fans, and MACABRE DAILY is your source for Fantastic Fest 2023 coverage! This year, a ghastly selection of our staff were invited to participate in a series of virtual screenings premiering at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. This year’s selection of films ranges from the darkly comic to the dreadfully dire and all things fantastic in between. Check out the review below for ‘Bark’!

This uniquely made psychological thriller stars Michael Weston, A.J. Buckley and is directed by German filmmaker Marc Schölermann. It is also written by Steve Fauquier. The synopsis for this movie is as follows (courtesy of Fantastic Fest’s website):

“Nolan Bentley seems like a nice enough guy caught in a terrible situation after he wakes up one morning tied to a tree, hands behind his back, with neither water nor food at his disposal. After suffering starvation and hunger for a few days, a passing outdoorsman pitches a tent right next to him and starts a conversation. As their discussion progresses, it becomes clear to Nolan that the man has no intention of saving him. What’s unclear is his reasons for choosing not to intervene to rescue Nolan.”

While the synopsis is accurate with it being a “slow burn”, the explosive conclusion is well worth the 90-minute runtime. There were so many moments where you think you might have things figured out. You may think “Oh, he is just a crazy man lost in the woods” or “Oh, he has to be dead the whole time like Bruce Willis in ‘Sixth Sense’, right?”. You will want to put any theories you have away because they will be 100% wrong (trust me, I tried to figure it out myself).

This movie is an intense, mind bending and suspenseful rollercoaster ride that will make you feel confused in the best way. It will leave you on the edge of the seat until the final moments of the movie. The story for this is kind of gives you the feel of the entire room scenes of ‘Saw’. The only difference is if you had the wondrously beautiful scenery/atmosphere of the great outdoors holding you prisoner. There are many times you feel sympathy for Nolan (portrayed by Michael Weston) and there are moments where you may also side with the crazy, riddle providing protagonist The Outdoorsman (portrayed by A.J. Buckley). This movie is very impressive with the ‘bottle neck’ episode approach with staying mainly in one area for the entire movie.

The story of the movie makes you feel that you could be Nolan. Tied down by the shackles of life and everyday responsibilities, such as a day job might be as bad as being tied to a tree, lost in the woods with no way out. Nolan goes through a wide range of emotions in this movie. It is almost like you are witnessing the “5 Stages of Grief”, while he and The Outdoorsman talk through his life. Nolan even reveals some of the terrible things he has done throughout his life, which makes you wonder if this is why he is tied to a tree.

You see him go through anger, regret, sadness and even towards the end understanding of what may have brought him here. The story was clearly very well written bySteve Fauquier, well thought out and also structured in a way that is going to make you want to go back and watch it again to catch anything you may have missed on your first viewing.

The story is not the only thing that was very well done in this movie. The cinematography is beautifully shot with every angle of Nolan tied to the tree. There are some of the close-ups on his face when he experiences immense confusion, and anger towards The Outdoorsman setting up a tent to watch Nolan. Also, it goes without saying that the exterior shots of the woods are absolutely breathtaking. The way the director Marc Schölermann shot the wilderness in this movie makes you feel as if you were there in the background, peaking around a tree as you are watching Nolan piece together the reasons he is tied to the tree or wondering The Outdoorsman’s motive.

The beautiful cinematography may be a big thing that will catch your attention to this movie, but the woods aren’t the only places that show up on the big screen. There are some flashback scenes where you get an insight into the life that Nolan leads, as well as his connection with The Outdoorsman before being tied to the tree. There are these dark, gritty filters that are added to the night scenes when Nolan is in his home before getting kidnapped.

They are shot with just the perfect amount of background city lights that really suck you into the atmosphere they are creating. There are moments when Nolan is walking back and forth from his living room to his kitchen that are prime examples of the fine camera work that was done in this movie.

One thing that this movie (and that a good number of independent films get right most of the time), is the way that the director created a unique foundation of plot, attention-grabbing shots, and exciting moments. There are some of those big-budget movies out there that tend to forget this when making a movie. There is a particular scene (no spoilers of course) where Nolan is close to escaping and possibly getting upper hand on The Outdoorsman that makes you hold your breath in anticipation.

In those moments you feel that he may get his freedom, only to have The Outdoorsman pull the rug out from under him, due to Nolan’s exhaustion over the past few days. You may feel that you can’t get more on edge of your seat while watching this movie, but that moment got will get you so close to the edge of your seat, you may think you’re going to fall off. Moments like this and more is really what makes everything about this movie compelling.

The best thing about this movie (and what I feel will stand out the most to anyone that watches it) is the way you side with Nolan through most of the movie, but there are moments where you think maybe The Outdoorsman is the one who may be the one you should be rooting for. This is even more true with the ending that reveals a very maddening and out of nowhere revenge plot. This will cement your true feelings on who you should be rooting for or not by the time the credits roll onscreen.

There isn’t much to gore when it comes to this movie and it truly doesn’t need it. The psychological way that this movie messes with your mind. There is also the way you can tell Nolan is mentally falling apart with each passing minute that will makes you realize that no gruesome moments are really needed for this movie.

Sure, gore and the occasional “torture porn” horror movie is much needed with any fan of the genre, but this movie does what a lot of popular horror movies do best, it keeps you thinking well after the movie ends. Honestly, this movie is up there with some of the great psychological thrillers throughout the years. It is really something that is going to be worth it when it comes to a theater or streaming service near you.

‘Bark’ from Widescreen Entertainment is one of many great films that we here at Macabre Daily are covering. Be sure to stay tuned to our social media pages and here for more reviews of the films we got to enjoy this year at Fantastic Fest.

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