Between “misery” and drama with feminist overtones, ‘Never Hike Alone‘ is a short film that offers all the ingredients for an intense cinematic experience. Beth Gallagher and Alison Kertz deliver a finely crafted story, using the principles of a psychological thriller but rejecting the conventional good-evil dichotomy that the genre has accustomed us to. In other words, the evolution of the story confronts us with revelations that drastically reconsider the way we relate to the characters’ actions. Empathy and terror combine in a mix of sensations in which it is challenging to dissociate humanity from the inhumanity of the protagonists.
Liz sets out to find her brother, who, despite being an expert hiker, seems to have disappeared during an expedition. After meeting Judith, who lives in the heart of the forest, the two women discover specific details that will completely change the course of events.
In an almost aseptic style with slight echoes of films such as “The Blair Witch Project”, Beth Gallagher and Alison Kertz project the destructive impulses of the human soul against the backdrop of a vast, wild space. The tense silence of the forest metaphorically conceals the silence of the characters themselves, whose essence is relatively inaccessible to us. Using a discontinuous technique that alternates between the present and flashbacks to reveal the background of a crime gradually, the directors juxtapose two female characters, each in search of the truth, closely followed by the spectre of men who changed their destinies. While Liz is searching for a brother she idealizes but does not know, Judith carries with her the trauma of an assault that will turn her into a “gorgon” who collects her victims like “trophies”. Such details with symbolic undertones that reveal aspects of the manifestation of the female soul in a moment of terrifying yet tender closeness make ‘Never Hike Alone’ a short film of truly magnetic intensity.
