By: Trevor Chartrand

Having written and directed Outpost, actor Joe Lo Truglio demonstrates a keen eye for the eerie and uncomfortable with this surprisingly dark and effective thriller that serves as a significant departure from the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star’s comedic wheelhouse.

Beth Dover (of TV’s Childrens Hospital and the Netflix spin-off Medical Police) stars as Kate, a trauma survivor overcoming a brutal case of domestic abuse.  Despite having escaped her tormentor, Kate is haunted, living in a constant state of unstable fear.  She decides isolation will give her the time and space she needs to rebuild her peace of mind – accepting a job on a firewatch outpost on a scenic mountain range.  Alone in her tower, she finds the peace and quiet she was looking for… but the mind is a fickle thing.  Kate’s time alone has the opposite effect, and she loses herself even more.

Outpost, from top to bottom, is a well-executed thriller.  The way tension and suspense builds throughout the film is timed just right, taking the audience’s intrigue to a perfect boiling point.  And then, unlike a lot of films in this genre, the suspense actually builds to something surprisingly meaningful, and every set-up sees its proper pay-off throughout an intense, action-packed third act.  Finally, a film that’s not just atmospheric for the sake of atmosphere – there’s a deeper thematic purpose to it all.  In that sense, Outpost is reminiscent of Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man (2020).

To build this atmosphere, Outpost’s cast and crew have clearly done their homework.  The remote, mountainous forests the movie takes place in are shot to look both breathtaking and dangerous, with kudos to Frank Barrera’s cinematography and camera team.

The cast of characters are all on-point as well, with Dover’s fierce performance leading the way.  The supporting cast all around her are equally edgy and thoughtful, depicting lifelike characters with worries and flaws of their own.  Notable mentions go to Dylan Baker’s crotchety old man character, and Becky Ann Baker’s quirky ol’ gal performance (and later in the film, movie goers receive some incredible make-up work on Baker as well).

The only minor flaw I could pinpoint would be in reference to the film’s editing – particularly during action sequences.  Fast-paced action cuts tend to fly by too quickly, making details easy to miss.  During a chase sequence late in the film, for example, a character picks something up from the floor, throwing it at another character.  But the insert shot of the object in question is so short, half a second at best, it’s impossible to tell what was being thrown.  Since we can’t see what’s happening anyway, the shot may as well have been left on the cutting room floor.  This is a minor issue at best, though.

Overall, Outpost is stirring and thought-provoking;  a haunting tale executed with incredible precision.  Too often, films in this genre will go for sucker-punch shock value – but there’s none of that to be found with Joe Lo Truglio’s filmmaking debut.  Outpost has both passion and purpose, and it is a truly memorable film.

**********

Do You Tweet? Follow These Tweeple:

Trevor Chartrand: @OhHaiTrebor