Into the Forest

This screening took place on Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 8:30 pmYukon Arts Centre

In the not-too-distant future, two ambitious young women, Nell and Eva, live with their father in a lovely but run-down home up in the mountains somewhere on the West Coast. Suddenly the power goes out; no one knows why. No electricity, no gasoline. Their solar power system isn't working. Over the following days, the radio reports a thousand theories: technical breakdowns, terrorism, disease and uncontrolled violence across the continent. Then, one day, the radio stops broadcasting. Absolute silence. Step by ominous step, everything that Nell, a would-be academic, and Eva, a hard working contemporary dancer, have come to rely on is stripped away: parental protection, information, food, safety, friends, lovers, music - all gone. They are faced with a world where rumor is the only guide, trust is a scarce commodity, gas is king and loneliness is excruciating. To battle starvation, invasion and despair, Nell and Eva fall deeper into a primitive life that tests their endurance and bond. Ultimately, the sisters must work together to survive and learn to discover what the earth will provide. They find comfort in cherishing the memories of the happy family life they once shared. The natural world, art and memory sustain them. But for how long? Into the Forest, a raw and elegant "realistic fable," explores the beauty that can come of painful beginnings, the denial we resort to in a world come unhinged and the strength that we find when our plans for our lives have been obliterated. "Acclaimed filmmaker Patricia Rozema returns to the big screen with this gripping story about two sisters (Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood) who must fend for themselves after a massive power outage throws North America into chaos. Hidden away at their family's remote country house, Nell and Eva gradually become aware of the severity of their situation, as the blackout continues and supplies dwindle. Page and Wood offer powerful and nuanced performances as young women forced to re-examine their place in the world and their relationship with the land, their home, and each other. Rozema offers a fresh and potent take on the apocalyptic thriller, exposing the vulnerabilities of our modern world while bringing a humanistic approach to her film's fearsome vision of an all-too-plausible future." —Magali Simard, Canada's Top Ten