Foreboding forest affairs from newfound freedom from a father’s frequent fury transforms into fragmentations of frolicking to frightening to frustrating in a frictionless familiar film of fruitlessness, to be frank.

The Long Dark Trail is a new independent film about two teenage boys who escape from their abusive father to find their estranged mother. Unbeknownst to them, she’s gone off to join a cult. Will they find her and persuade her to return to the family?

Written and directed by Kevin Ignatius and Nick Psinakis, the slow-burn story isn’t heavy on dialogue. What little is presented is dull. Nothing is learned about the two main protagonists through discussions. There aren’t any bonding moments between them either. Most of the movie is about the two brothers walking through the forest but they rarely speak let alone have conversations. There’s never a campfire scene or them sitting down where personal information is relayed about them. They have little to no interaction on their journey. Their relationship is no different by the time of the finale. The story takes place in Northwest Pennsylvania so they include gorgeous wide shots of the forest to show the vastness of the greenery and surrounding bodies of water. The luscious vibrant scenery is the best part of the film.

Henry (Brady O’Donnell) is the older brother, and Jacob (Carter O’Donnell) is the younger brother. Both give severely flat performances. Most of the time the line delivery is emotionless. They also don’t have any distinct quirks or personalities. They don’t have any sense of humour either. Some segments go on for 15 minutes or so with no dialogue. Nothing happens, they just walk. What do we know about them? They escaped from their abusive father to find their estranged mother. That’s it. How am I supposed to feel for them if I no nothing about them? Yes, it’s a sad situation but the boys aren’t relatable or empathetic outside of being victimized.

Michael Thyer is their abusive father Duane. He’s a one-dimensional, cliché abuser with little to no motivation for his actions. He’s just violently aggressive. It reminds me of Black Phone from last year but that film had layers of context for why the father behaved the way he did. I’m not saying it justified or glorified his actions but it showed a fearful empathetic character who was scared and didn’t know how to react in his situation. This film shows none of that. What do we know about him outside of being a violent abuser? Nothing.

Trina Campbell is their mother. She makes odd character choices that don’t make any sense. Some choices even go against her character which was established previously. Without giving anything away, her inexplicable decisions make things much worse than if she did the opposite instead. It’s incredibly frustrating to see characters do this. What do we know about her besides she’s a mom who joined a cult? Nothing.

Overall, The Long Dark Trail is as uninspired as it is underdeveloped. Perhaps more drafts of the script could have added meaningful conversations between the two brothers and their parents and a more cohesive narrative could have been established rather than having a meandering plot that goes nowhere with an anticlimactic conclusion. The best part of The Long Dark Trail is the magnificent Pennsylvania forest where it’s set. It’s never a good thing when the environment outshines the narrative taking place within it. It’s similar to Stand By Me and The Blair Witch Project, but watered down with no heart or tension. What little horror elements are involved falls apart because of the abysmal acting. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. And remember, the question remains…how can a film be so short yet feel so long without presenting anything to the audience?

3 out of 10