IN A VIOLENT NATURE (2024) MOVIE REVIEW
An ASMR version of a cabin in the woods slasher that takes the unique perspective of the killer, to both interesting and dull effect.
by Nate Lemann
Chris Nash’s experimental supernatural slasher follows a traditional slasher tale from the perspective of the mute, brutish killer (Ry Barrett). We are steeped in his eerily still perspective, the violence we bear witness to having a very casual, disturbing feel.
When his mother’s locket is stolen from his resting place, “Joey” rises and begins to hunt down the dumb teenagers who took it as their own. We come to learn that Joey was a developmentally disabled giant who pissed off the wrong loggers one day and was tragically killed. After his father was also murdered in the aftermath, Joey rose from the dead and massacred those loggers, becoming a folk legend to tell at campfire stories. What these teens soon learn is Joey is all-too-real.
Nash’s filmmaking style feels like a slasher movie made as ASMR. It is a tranquil viewing if that makes sense for a film with brutal and banal violent set pieces. I’m not sure you can say you are rooting for Joey but you see more humanity come through than these monsters usually are afforded. There is a sequence with a key chain he finds that I found so captivating and an almost touching bit of innocence.
I will say that having the film locked into the Killer’s POV does rob the film of much dread and suspense, always onto the shocking deaths well before the victims. It’s not a film built for shock jump scares, so don’t go in expecting that. I did think the finale was an exceptional piece of filmmaking, with some suspense and dread getting infused late into the game.
FINAL RATING: 3.5/5 Stars (Fascinating thought experiment and meditative reflection on the slasher genre)
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