Here is Poland, not Miami Vice – review of the film “In the forest today nobody will sleep”

Wait, there’s something inside – oh, I’ll take a peek

It is impossible not to notice how big a problem is nowadays dependence on all kinds of technology. The organizers of the offline survival and wandering camp “Adrenalina” have found a solution – before the first roll call, the young people participating in it programmatically get rid of all electronic devices, divide them into groups of several people and go into the wild to – perhaps for the first time in their life – face nature . It quickly turns out that this will not be their only concern; for there is a much more dangerous force in the forest.

 E, I just thought there was nothing to be afraid of

It’s true – the plot is clichéd for a kilometer. After all, how many helpless children can be seen in a hostile environment? The choice of characters also seems quite schematic: here we have Zosia (Julia Wieniawa-Narkiewicz) – a girl after the ordeal with all the earnest money for the final girl, Julka (Michał Lupa) – a hero like “I’ve seen enough horror movies, so I know how it will end”, a narcissistic doll (Wiktoria Gąsiewska) and a young macho (Sebastian Dela), and Bartek (Stanisław Cywka) – an inconspicuous “norm “, Glued as if by force. At the same time, it is the most conscious procedure and scored many times during the action, mainly with the mouth of the omniscient nerd. Bartosz M. Kowalski does not set new paths, but follows the rules laid down by the classics of the genre, headed by Wes Craven. Principles which – it is worth mentioning – are quoted quite literally at one point.

While the story itself does not surprise, the heroes who are simply likeable (a horse with a row to those who did not support Julek!). Their dialogues are quite natural and are enriched with a huge dose of humor, relieving tension at the right moments. Young actors, apart from Wieniawa and Lupa, play quite numbly at the same time – to such an extent that it is worth considering whether this is also a deliberate procedure, in some way referring to the common opinion about stars of this type of production. On the other hand, you can admire a number of expressive, though eminently episodic, creations of a more mature part of the cast: Gabriela Muskała, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Mirosław Zbrojewicz, Olaf Lubaszenka and Piotr Cyrwus.

Whoever has sex is dead

Sure, Kowalski does not play with subtlety, serving us a session with a pinch of salt (as evidenced by the genesis of the emergence of a murderous force). The species itself accepts with all the benefits of the inventory – guts and gore, but also a few at least pointless (not to say unnecessary) twists. He breaks the typical Hollywood absurdities and tracing papers with a familiar sauce of the stereotypical “Polish B”: on the one hand, we will see an aestheticized relationship in the moonlight and a camp manager parading in a scout outfit, on the other – a priest driving an expensive car and a blasé, burned out policeman from the provinces. “Here is Poland, not Miami Vice,” summarizes the latter – and it is undoubtedly felt.

There is no way to fault the technical side of the film. Both the photos by Cezary Stolecki and the atmospheric soundtrack composed by Jimek consistently manipulate the viewer’s mood. The make-up is also not bad. The creators certainly had a much more modest budget than their American colleagues – fortunately, this is not visible on the screen, at least in most cases.

The unattractive never survive

In the forest today, no one will be positively surprised by the conscious use of rules and patterns governing the already exploited slasher convention . It is still a pop-meta-text that is closer to the Scream series than Haneke’s Funny Games , but it is a good starting point for young creators who want to consciously transfer Hollywood trends to their home yard. And it has a lot of fun too.