TL;DR – There is an interesting story here, but the strong-handed visuals overwhelm the narrative and don’t give it any space to land.

Outpost Review –

There are many ways that you can intrigue me to watch your film. It could be the premise, the director, the actor, or a scenario that just asks you to watch it. Today’s film had the latter when I was asked if I wanted to see the horror directing debut of Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Joe Lo Truglio? The answer to that question is yes, yes I do. Partly because of that premise, I also like watching debut works to see what new ideas they can bring to the medium.   

So to set the scene, we open with Kate (Beth Dover) being attacked by an assailant. She keeps getting flashbacks to the event, seeing violence at every turn. Struggling, she turns to her friend Nickie (Ta’Rea Campbell) to get her brother Earl (Ato Essandoh) to let her stay in one of the fire outposts. Away from society, where she can recover, because the police have not found Mike (Tim Neff) yet. The walk to the top is rickety, but you can see for hundreds of miles. It is secluded, but maybe not secluded enough.  

Many different things can cause fear. It can be a past memory, the creak of a footstep on a stair, the howl of an animal, or, in my case, watching someone who does not know how to use an axe start chopping wood. When you remove yourself from most trappings of modern society, these things become heightened, making for an excellent setting for a film. It also helps when you have an environment that can delight and terrify. Alone on top of a tower in the middle of the forest is something that could absolutely be appealing to me, but I am also afraid of heights, so it ticks both those boxes.  

The film does a fantastic job of showing off this landscape full of beauty and danger. There are wolves and coyotes, neighbours who may have done something to their wives, and random hikers who could be any variation of evil. Add to that someone who has experienced a significant trauma, alone and potentially vulnerable, well, that is a disaster waiting to happen. I do have to give full respect to Beth Dover, who has to carry most of the film, and that is not an easy job, even before you have to bring all the weight of trauma needed to make the character work. Also, Becky Ann Baker is always a delight, and this film makes the most of every moment she is on screen.

However, Outpost mostly did not work for me. Part of that is that it is so in your face with its visual metaphors that it blunts any impact they could have. Subtlety is lost, which, given the subject material and that the film repeatably depicts scenes of domestic abuse, feels like a missed step. Well, maybe more than that. Added to these problems, Outpost has issues with pacing and characters that fall into the worst possible category in horror films – people with no sense of self-preservation, and you have some infuriating moments. This is a shame because some moments in the third act could be iconic horror vignettes if they were supported better.    

In the end, do we recommend Outpost? That is a difficult question to answer. There are moments here where the movie clicked together, which was fantastic to watch. However, for me, the road to those moments is full of potholes to the point where I am not sure I could recommend the destination. If you liked Outpost, I would recommend to you The Invisible Man.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Outpost
Directed by – Joe Lo Truglio
Written by – Joe Lo Truglio
Music by – Steph Copeland       
Cinematography by – Frank Barrera
Edited by – Yang Hua Hu
Production/Distribution Companies – What’s That Noise Films, Gigi Films, Gravitas Ventures & Lightbulb Film Distribution
Starring – Beth Dover, Ato Essandoh, Dylan Baker, Becky Ann Baker, Dallas Roberts & Ta’Rea Campbell, D.R. Anderson & Tim Neff
Rating – around an Australia: MA15+;