Peaks And Valleys Movie Review

Michael Burns directs investing character drama that feels like a play with 2 good lead performances

Wrapped in plastic and thrown from a plane into a rural Alaskan lake would usually mean the end of the story. For Bailey, it's just the beginning. Waking naked, battered and horrifically traumatized, she finds herself trapped in a secluded cabin somewhere in the wilds of Alaska. Her only company, Jack, is a hardnosed man of few words who makes no question of his desire to be left alone. With winter taking its grip on the surrounding wilderness, Bailey must overcome the aftermath of her ordeal and survive long enough to make it home. With Jack as her only aid, she soon suspects that his secrets were never meant to leave the cabin.

Director Michael Burns creates this intimate character drama about 2 damaged people who find unlikely connection with each other that feels like a play at time which draws you in. The 2 lead performances from Kitty Mahoney as Bailey and Kevin T Bennet as Jack are great together with their dynamic being so interesting to watch which carries the film was tough, combative, little heartfelt at times, and heartbreaking by the end when Jack makes the choice he does at the end of the film. The pace of film is done well reminded me of the Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford if it hooks you it makes go on the journey with the characters. The film is technically well done for a low budget film it shows if you have good actors with a good script, you can make a compelling film.

The direction of the film is so interesting in how restrained it is the camera does not move that often it usually just sits with the actors and when its movies it has a handheld feel that makes you feel like you’re with the characters. I love the way he would zoom in on the actors when they had an emotional scene like when Bailey is talking about what happened to her was so effective in how it makes you feel her pain, fear, and despair with Jack reacting to what she is telling him. The choices of when to have score present verses when it’s not great like when Jack is open about his past to Bailey is heartbreaking to show there is a person underneath this rough exterior.

The acting in the film is rock solid starting with Kitty Mahoney as Bailey she must be scared, traumatized, uneasy, unsure, then sensitive when she needs to be. One of my favorite scenes of hers is when she has her monologue talking about her trauma is awesome its horrifying and heartbreaking at the same time just as good is her scenes of just listening and reacting to Jack in their scenes to together that’s when you know you have a good actor when they can convey emotion without speaking. Kevin T Bennet as Jack matches her beat for beat coming off at first like an asshole with no sensitivity at all then the more time, they spend together come to understand each other better which shows a little of Jacks vulnerability that is affecting.

Final thoughts on the film are it is a hidden gem of a film that you should give a chance to if you like character driven dramas that feel like a play for a lot of the film, I’m going to give it a 3.5 out of 5.