Wrong Turn (2021) starts out as a fairly conventional horror flick, only to take us on a few unexpected turns along with the ill-fated group of hikers. While horror fans might not see anything too original (since it is more of a reboot of the original Wrong Turn series) in this grisly adventure, it’s a solid film that lovers of the genre can add to their repertoire.
Wrong Turn (2021) Plot
Wrong Turn begins with Scott (Matthew Modine), the father of the missing Jen (Charlotte Vega), going to a precinct in Virginia to file a ‘missing persons’ report on his daughter, her boyfriend Darius (Adain Bradley), and their group of friends (Luis, Gary, Adam, and Milla) who went missing on the Appalachian Trail. As the provincial town’s sheriff takes the missing persons report lightly, Scott begins asking the townspeople for information about his daughter, since she was last seen in the town. One of the men delivers a vague, ominous warning to Scott that “around here, nature eats everything it catches.”
We’re then taken back six weeks earlier to his daughter’s perspective as her boyfriend drives them through the Appalachian Trail. Their tire suddenly flattens, leaving them stranded on the trail. And in true horror film fashion, the low growl of a malevolent presence watches them from the woods.
After they get into town, they stop at an inn and receive another warning from the innkeeper that the woods “can be unforgiving.” The gay couple, Luis and Gary, and interracial couple, Jen and Darius, are ill at ease around the townspeople, who flaunt confederate flags and identify the group at first sight as “not from around here.” There’s a strong undertone of present-day political tensions of left vs right, with the insular older white men giving off threatening vibes. Although warned by these people to stay on the trail, the carefree group disregards the warnings and goes off into the ominous woods.
The incidents that take their lives seem to be caused by the dark figures that appear out of nowhere. A hint at their identity comes when Darius observes a placard found in a cemetery that says, “Foundation of a blessed and ideal America.” As they continue to have dangerous encounters with the people called “The Foundation,” the audience is left to wonder if anyone will survive this formidable tribe.
Wrong Turn Performances
Charlotte Vega brings Jen from a vulnerable, but willful young woman, to one who’s hardened to violence and capable of brutal killings herself. Out of all the performances in the film, hers stands out as the most intriguing because of how significant her growth is by the film’s end. Her black and white morality gradually breaks down under the weight of horrific circumstances and as the audience, we feel her struggle with every new life and death decision she’s forced to make.
Bill Sage comes on the scene later in the film as the relentless and stoic leader of The Foundation. He portrays the villainous Venable shifts between barbarism and a stoicism that makes us believe he could be fair and sympathetic. Although Bill Sage and Charlotte Vega stand out in the film, all the performances are solid and, to some extent, help compensate for the narrative’s frequent cliches.
The Film Holds Strong Political Overtones
The group of hikers represents all the things conservatives feel threatened by–feminism and ethnic and sexual diversity. Initially, it seems as if the main threat to the hikers will come from the rednecks in the town, especially when Adam’s extremism and excitability arouse their contempt.
But as the young people’s terror mounts, their behavior starts to become as rash and prejudicial as that of the provincial townspeople. The source of this terror is the forest that is inhabited by what looks like potentially supernatural creatures that blend in with their environment, but they turn out to be a tribe, which doesn’t add much in the way of believability.
The group’s dealings with The Foundation take us out of the simplistic morality of left vs right, as we get the sense that there are two perspectives that are at odds. Rather than being purely victims, the other viewpoint is that, in a sense, they’ve unwittingly crossed into another culture’s territory.
When one character is mortally wounded by one of their traps, one of the members of The Foundation puts her out of her misery. This is where we first get the sense that their motives aren’t completely malicious. Over the course of the film, we realize that the arrogance and even antagonism of the young people led them to not heed any warnings, thus resulting in an ugly misstep.
The Narrative is Heavy and Unforgiving
One of the things that makes this movie difficult to watch is that it offers no relief from the bloodbath. There is either a grisly death occurring or the threat of one coming. From the first horrific death, where a member of the hiking group is crushed to death by a barreling tree trunk, we realize this film isn’t going to offer any lighter moments to ease the tension. Even when Jen makes it out of her predicament in the forest, there’s only a brief moment of normalcy before the threat returns.
Yet there is never a dull moment, as the film’s motor runs persistently, although one is mindful of its almost two-hour length. With nearly countless bodies piling up and endless gore, one looks for some tinge of escape, or at least a shorter run time.
You can watch Wrong Turn 2021 the reboot here:
A Good, but Stressful Film That Lacks Rewatchability
Even though the Wrong Turn movie lived up to the horror/thriller genres by pulling us along into fast-paced, rough terrain, it’s not the kind of film I’d watch twice. The sheer length of this gorefest is enough to leave the audience bleary-eyed from all the exhausting deaths and various and creative modes of brutality.
If you’re expecting to sit back and have fun watching a slasher flick, you’ll likely be disappointed. Wrong Turn will put you on a roller coaster of emotions as it repeatedly gives you hope for the characters, then swiftly yanks it away. By the end, you’ll probably take a sigh of relief that the journey is over.
Check out the trailer of Wrong Turn 2021 movie here:
Wrong Turn 2021
Pros
- A Good Reboot
- Good Editing
Cons
- Plot
- Screenplay
