Two men go on a forest hike where it’s soon obvious that this is not a simple hike, their goals are more than sightseeing and communing with nature.
Written and directed by Josh Potrykus, this exploration of human nature, legacy, what makes people tick, and suicidality is one that plays like a woodsy take on Gerry (2002) and eventually turns into an exploration of new subjects (no spoilers here) that takes one of the leads beyond what he expected. As opposed to Gerry, the men here aren’t lost, but similar to watching Gerry, this viewer’s interest dwindled fast in that first 30 minutes. Given that another 30 minutes needs to go by before things pick up/change, it’s a bit of a slog to get through that first hours. Yes, the characters are decently written, but there is something missing here that eventually is found for the last third of the film. This leads to being a bit on the bored side of life until the film takes that turn that brings it back to life.
The cast here is small to say the least, the first two-thirds of the film are filled with just two men walking in a forest, talking, and seemingly not knowing what they are doing in terms of nature camping and exploring. These two are played by writer-director Josh Potrykus with Joshua Burge joining him. The two of them doing solid work, giving the right emotions and nuances for their characters. The way the characters are written makes them unlikable, but the acting here doesn’t make them more so. The work is what the story and film needed. A few more actors show up in this film, most of them doing ok with their parts, but none of them exactly have meaty parts to work with, so their work is limited here.
The cinematography Adam J. Minnick, paired with the editing by Potrykus, work well here, it gives that lost in the woods looks, a bit grainy, non-glossy, something that could almost be found footage, but not quite. This looks and how it was all shot works for the story here and the characters. It has its own style and makes the most of it. This look really brings back a nostalgic style of indie films from the 90s or so. The look won’t work for everyone, but it worked for this viewer.
Vulcanizadora feels like it needs a bit of editing, perhaps a new set of eyes, to enliven the first two-thirds of the film and make them easier to get through. The acting is solid and the look of the film is interesting, the writing lets the film down, which is a bit sad for a film with this much potential.
This year the Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 runs in Montreal from July 18th to August 4th.