Uggh - Tedius movie that does not go anywhere

It's a shame when people undertake the effort to make a feature film when they simply do not have the requisite tools to even superficially command the craft. The filmmaker(s) should have spent more time doing another short film or two in order to better prepare (or better yet) learn the craft of story design / telling and character development. The movie is reasonably well shot, but this is the extent of what I'm willing to give this movie. So, good work by DP.

The movie drags and drags. The characters are not well drawn or well developed – very little debt of complexity. All we get is three guys that go into the forest on a self-imposed mission to test themselves with very little water and a bag of peyote. That’s basically the premise. The reason for this is not very well justified and we don’t get a sense of why one or more of the characters undertake this mission. We're left to assume that it's a contrived "guys" thing – not good enough as far as a premise goes, and it does not really do anything to expand on any discernable theme. We're not given a whole lot of insight into Julian's character aside from the fact that he's got some sort of unresolved internal issues – none of this is well mapped. He and Paul are drawn up as having issues with on another, but again nothing is really fleshed out in any discernible dramatic sense. Their relationship is flat and one-note.

As mentioned earlier, nothing really happens with these guys. The structure is week and no real dramatic tension is created that is able to sustain a feature length telling of the story (or lack thereof). The days go buy, and the only cue that gives us any sense of time passage is the occasional title card that tells us how many days into the journey we’re in - very week and not very creative. The movie simply wallows along as we follow these week characters through the forest.

I really long for the days when people stop pretending to be filmmakers just because they have the financial means to do so. Of course, we can't really define well made movies without having our fair share of bad or mediocre ones like this one. The filmmakers of Deadfall Trail will do well to be honest with themselves and learn to appreciate the art of story craft – maybe consult those that do have experience instead of assuming that they already have the tools. Learn how to write stories that resonate with the audience and populate your story with compelling characters that have some emotional debt and complexity and are able to pull the audience along. Reach out for serious notes from experienced story tellers if you need to, or those that are more gifted and/or intellectually and emotionally more advanced as story tellers. And don't fall into the fatal trap of only taking notes that praise or validate you. Learn how to work with honest notes, even if it hurts. From what I understand, the filmmakers are instructors at a two year film program in Scottsdale, Arizona? My hopes are that this does not cloud their ability to take notes from others. It's very easy for people like this to feel like they have all the answers when surrounded by eager students that look up to them and continually validate their false sense of aptitude.