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.
Oct 5 & 7: Filmmaker Q&A
Slippery, seductive, and smartly titillating.
Kristy Puchko, Mashable
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
Bethany Brown, Tandia Mercedes, Cody Kearsley, Chris McNally
Canada
2026
English
At VIFF Centre
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits & Director
Producer
Gloria Mercer, Aidan West, Nic Altobelli
Screenwriter
Aidan West
Cinematography
Devan Scott
Editor
Gloria Mercer
Original Music
Caleb Chan
Production Design
Carly Southern
Gloria Mercer
Gloria Mercer is a Vancouver-based filmmaker and alumna of Simon Fraser University and Women In the Director’s Chair. Her award-winning short films have screened internationally and aired on CBC and Crave, and her debut feature, A Safe Distance, premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival, followed by festival screenings at Fantasia, Frameline, and more. Mercer has received support from the National Film Board of Canada, Creative BC, and the Canada Council for the Arts. She is passionate about featuring complex women on screen.
Filmography: All Happened Before (2018); Hekademia (2020); Smoke Eater (2022)
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