Wrong Turn
Genre: Horror
Director: Christopher Landon
Writer: Ben Collins
Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Tanner Buchanan, Caylee Cowan, Rohan Campbell, Devyn Nekoda, Emily VanCamp, Penn Badgley
Plot: The moon is partly obscured by clouds as a thin mist winds through the trees. A pair of hikers, a man and a woman, dressed in technical clothing and camping backpacks, advance cautiously along a path lit only by their flickering headlamps. The woman looks around nervously, clutching her companion’s arm tightly. Their breathing is labored and their faces are sweaty despite the cold. Their whispers seem broken by fear. The two turn around often, hearing something or thinking they hear it. Suddenly a branch breaks behind them, then another, closer. A guttural sound, almost an animalistic breath with a human tone is heard by the two hikers. The man’s eyes peer between the trees. The torch shines through the trees but there is nothing except that light mist. They take a step forward… and the earth gives way. The man sinks into a hole camouflaged by leaves and dry branches. The woman turns around screaming when she sees the man's body impaled on long, sharp stakes driven into the ground. The woman kneels on the edge as she hears a noise behind her. Something suddenly grabs her ankle. The camera follows her as she is dragged away, her heels digging into the earth as her nails try to grasp anything. Then a muffled scream is lost among the trees as the woman disappears into the fog.
The sun is high on a scenic, winding road, surrounded by thick conifers. A dark SUV speeds along the asphalt. Inside, the atmosphere is lively and light. Lena (Sophie Thatcher) drives with one arm relaxed out the window. Her black hair is pulled back in a ponytail with a pair of large, round sunglasses that reflect the landscape. A faint smile creases her face as she drums her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the music. Next to her, Zane (Tanner Buchanan) leans casually against the open window, staring out at the view, then turns to say something that makes everyone laugh. In the backseat Riley (Caylee Cowan) takes a selfie with Jude (Rohan Campbell), who tries to ruin it by making faces. Maya (Devyn Nekoda) moves to the beat, raising her hands and tossing her hair as if she’s already at the festival.
Suddenly, Lena slows the vehicle to a stop. Ahead of them, a line of vehicles stops in the middle of the road. Some drivers are out of their cars, others are trying to reverse around the obstacle. A distant horn blares. In the distance, visible through the trees: an overturned truck, lying on its side, its cargo strewn across the asphalt, blocking both directions of travel. The group turns off the music. Windows roll down, heads poking out to see what’s happening. Zane and Maya exchange a bored look. After a moment, Jude opens the door.
A little time passes and some of them get out of the car to stretch their legs. Riley, Lena and Zane walk along the shoulder, passing other stopped vehicles. Other people are out there talking, smoking and taking shelter in the shade. The atmosphere is patient but frustrated. Lena looks around as she sees a couple leaning against an old, lived-in olive green van. Daniel (Penn Badgley) is relaxed, with an attentive look and a friendly smile. Claire (Emily VanCamp) a very pretty blonde woman is next to him, holding a steel canteen and calmly observing everything. Zane comes over to make a sarcastic joke to which Claire laughs naturally, while Daniel responds with a friendly wave. Claire offers the boys cold drinks with a spontaneous gesture. The group relaxes a bit. They start to chat calmly. What seems like a random connection forms. Meanwhile, the camera pans up to an aerial shot. We see the line of cars stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Maya runs nervously toward the group, waving her hands, her voice cracking with urgency. The boys turn as Maya struggles to explain. A thin column of grayish smoke rises from the hood of the SUV. Lena and Zane carefully open the hood and a dark cloud hits them. They notice the broken radiator and green liquid on the ground. Daniel and Clare also approach, curious as to what is happening. They then offer a solution: they know of an alternate route and an old rest stop a little further back, where they can leave the SUV safely. Daniel points with a crumpled map while Claire smiles encouragingly. Some of the group hesitates, but the alternative would be to be stuck for who knows how long.
Daniel and Clare maneuver and reverse, followed slowly by Lena’s dying SUV. Soon the vehicles stop in a hidden clearing where abandoned vehicles such as cars, vans, and trailers lie among weeds and moss. Some are rusted, covered in leaves, others are almost intact and practically new. Zane and especially Lena take a quick look at the cars around them. They notice an old child seat, a suitcase still closed in the trunk of a station wagon, a shoe on the seat of a pickup. She narrows her eyes, thoughtful, but says nothing. One by one, the kids transfer backpacks and jackets to Daniel and Claire’s olive green van.
The van starts to move. After a while the paved road gives way to gravel, then dirt. The sun begins to set. The inside of the van is fairly quiet, apart from the tinny sound of the suspension and the low music coming from an old cassette radio and the soft snoring of Riley as she falls asleep. Daniel and Claire speak to each other in low voices, holding hands, laughing like two lovers on a journey. The tranquility is suddenly shattered by a sharp bang, followed by a second explosion of rubber. The van skids slightly on the loose ground and comes to an abrupt stop. Two tires are completely destroyed, punctured by a series of homemade nails nailed to a board hidden in the dust. Daniel and Claire get out and check the tires. Claire picks up her backpack and, in a reassuring tone, tells the group that they know someone nearby who can help them and that if they get hungry they can get supplies from the trunk. Then they walk into the woods, walking side by side, holding hands. Claire turns and makes a light gesture with her hand as if to say they will be back soon.
The group stays by the van. Zane opens the trunk looking for something to eat. There is a cooler, some supplies, but also a small metal box with a handwritten note inside, carefully folded. Lena reads it aloud. The boys gather around her curiously. "If you're reading this, it means you've been chosen. Every year, our community organizes a sacred event: The Hunt. And this year, you've been chosen as the prey. You have an hour's head start... or maybe not. Good luck." The group remains frozen. Maya tries to laugh, thinking it's a joke. Jude shakes his head, but Riley immediately silences him, terrified. Zane instead tries to rationalize while Lena instead looks at the woods and listens, signaling the others to be quiet. A hunting horn echoes in the distance and after a few seconds, wild cries rise from the woods. A mix of war cries and tribal chants, distant but approaching. A few moments later, a sudden hiss. An arrow shot from a very long distance cuts through the air and forcefully sticks in a tree, a few inches from Maya's head, who remains petrified before her legs give out for a moment. Jude helps her to get back on her feet. Riley watches in the distance as the figures move armed with crude weapons, dressed in rags and skins with faces masked by skulls and woven branches. The group begins to run through the undergrowth.
The group runs panting through bushes and twisted roots, pursued by hunters. Suddenly, as they pass between two narrow trees, a metallic click is activated. A barbed fence snaps sideways, suspended on a rudimentary system. The ropes creak but the mechanism jams at the last moment: the fence stops in mid-air, brushing the boys. Lena stumbles but Zane picks her up in an instant. Maya screams to stay together as much as possible. A moment later another sharp sound. Jude, in the center of the group, is dragged up by a vine, suddenly lifted between the trees like a puppet. The boy thrashes, screams, kicks into the void. The others rush beneath him, trying to cut the rope, but a moment later a second mechanism hidden among the branches is triggered: a series of guillotine blades shoot out from multiple directions. Jude is cleanly sliced in the torso and legs. Blood explodes from above like a scarlet rain, spraying Maya in the face, who screams and falls backwards. Zane is paralyzed while Lena whirls around in shock. Jude, split in two, hangs high above. But there is no time to cry: in the distance the hunters are approaching, screaming in excitement.
The four survivors move blindly without knowing where to go, careful where they put their feet. Maya sobs, still shaken. Riley, further back, loses her rhythm and trips on a wet log, hitting her face on the ground. As she gets up and puts her foot on the ground, a metal trap snaps, clamping her ankle with a horrible crack. Riley screams with all her strength. None of the three in front hear her. She tries desperately to open the trap with her bloody hands. She looks at the wound: torn flesh and blood dripping. Her breathing becomes labored, for a moment she thinks about the movie “Saw” and for a moment she really considers whether it is worth looking for something to amputate her foot with.
Lena, Zane and Maya emerge from the vegetation in a small clearing. In front of them, a worn wooden hut, with a corrugated iron roof and broken windows. They stop, debating whether to go in or not. Maya looks back realizing that Riley is not with them. They look around, unsure whether to go back or not.
Riley in the meantime is still there. Her breathing heavy and with shaking hands. When she hears footsteps, she raises her head. Some figures surround her with masks of bone and wood and clothes of skins holding weapons of various types.
Riley begins to insult them, throwing rocks, pieces of bark and even her canteen. One laughs in her face. Another passes her a stick, speaking in a serious voice "You have ten seconds. If you can get free… you are free." Riley looks at the stick. Time begins. With a burst of pure adrenaline, she forces the trap, using the stick as leverage. Her flesh tears again, but the metal jaw opens wide enough to let her foot out. Riley collapses, cursing the hunters, then smiles, her face sweaty and bloody, looking at her executioners.
For a moment they seem shocked. Then a sharp whistle. A first arrow pierces her side. Then another. And another. And another. Riley collapses, to her knees. She is breathing hard, blood dripping from her nose and mouth, her face contorted with pain.
The camera zooms in on her right eye: a tear falls as her gaze fixes on the hunters dancing and screaming with joy. Suddenly one of them is grabbed by the neck, thrown to the ground and dragged away. Another is hit in the head by something massive. Large, misshapen, humanoid shapes, covered in mud and sewn cloth, emerge from the trees. In a few moments all the hunters are slaughtered. One of the mutants, huge and deformed, with only one eye and protruding jaws, approaches Riley. In his hand he holds a rusty cleaver. Riley, already dying with short gasps, looks at him before breathing her last.
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