A Safe Distance Northern Lights

MON, OCT 5 | 8:45 PM VIFF Centre

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When unfulfilled 35-year-old Alex (Bethany Brown) turns down a proposal from her long-term boyfriend (Chris McNally) during a camping trip, he abandons her in the woods. Alone and injured, Alex is rescued by former lifeguard Kianna (Tandia Mercedes) and her self-styled progressive partner Matt (Cody Kearsley). As Alex warms up to the couple at their off-the-grid campsite, her curiosity unfurls into a sexual awakening. But when she starts to suspect her rescuers are responsible for a series of high-profile bank robberies, she finds herself dangerously entangled in their shifting power dynamics.

Set against the lush backdrop of British Columbia’s forests, this feature-length expansion of director/editor Gloria Mercer’s feminist short of the same name (a throwback to VIFF 2021) weds the intrigue of a slow-burn crime drama with the tension of a psychosexual thriller. Lingering zooms and a mesmerizing score by Caleb Chan imbue the film with apprehension and longing, as the latent wilderness within our heroine blooms to a bloody climax.

Slippery, seductive, and smartly titillating.

Kristy Puchko, Mashable

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VIFF Centre

1181 Seymour St
District: Yaletown Area: Downtown