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Crooked Lake

Play trailer Crooked Lake PG-13 Released Jul 24, 2009 1h 27m Mystery & Thriller Adventure Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
43% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 26% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
After their hunky guide, Jonah (Guy Yarkoni), dies unexpectedly, a carefree canoing excursion becomes a frightening thrill ride for four teenagers -- Alysha (Alysha Aubin), Candice (Candice Mausner), Morgan (Morgan McCunn) and Steph (Stephannie Richardson) -- who find themselves lost in the wilderness. As night falls, the girls band together and struggle to maneuver through the perils of Crooked Lake, from a bloodthirsty pack of wolves to sudden thunderstorms and frothy rapids.

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Tim Cogshell Boxoffice Magazine These girls are cute, they all have a willowy presence and purposefully youthful sensuality, but they are novice actors and it shows. Rated: 2.5/5 Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times Surviving Crooked Lake offers tension and honest emotion while making good use of its clearly limited financial resources. Rated: 3.5/5 Mar 12, 2010 Full Review Lisa Kennedy Denver Post Too often, volatile scenes of interpersonal tension and fear stretch the green cast thin. Rated: 2/4 Jul 24, 2009 Full Review Norman Wilner NOW Toronto Modest Canadian thriller Surviving Crooked Lake, playing matinees this weekend at the Regent, is a combination coming-of-age teen drama and survival thriller. Rated: 3/5 Sep 3, 2013 Full Review Brent Simon Shared Darkness There are thematic grace notes of cusp-of-pubescence grief, loneliness and misplaced attraction here, but the nitty-gritty of dramatic conflict and the acting are not up to snuff, quite simply. Rated: D+ May 15, 2012 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...the four teens remain utterly interchangeable for the duration of the increasingly interminable running time. Rated: 1/4 May 29, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (20) audience reviews
Audience Member Kickass Feminist Survival Flick! Low budget, but amazing! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautiful photography, great acting (by a cast full of amateurs), this movie probably hasn't aged well; shot on digital cameras a few years before they really improved to match the quality of film, but I saw this at Slamdance, where it won the Kodak prize for cinematography -- even though it doesn't look like a 'normal film" it's really beautiful. Yes, there are hiccups -- clearly this was made on a low budget -- but you don't get to see movies like this often, and it has a certain "indie charm". The premise is unique -- a boys' adventure story, but gender swapped -- it feels like this movie, in terms of the storytelling, was about a decade ahead of the times. An empowering story of girls growing up into strong young women, and surviving a harrowing ordeal, with powerful lessons learned by the main character. Highly recommend -- just be forewarned, it's a low budget affair. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Theirs concern wasn't surviving, but what they had in their hands! This Canadian thriller-drama was a surprise. This little gem was well made despite financially belong to a lower grade. From the actors to the crew, all were fresh. This is a limited cast film about the four young teen girls who are stranded on a lake bank for days with a dead body. Trying to get back home, but lost their way in the wilderness. So they face numerous challenges, and risking their lives, they take a mission on their hands. But would they succeed or not what leads to the final segment of the narration. I have seen plenty of lost in wild and struggling to survive films. But this one was not one of those, except the story outline. In this, the girls are not concerned about their survival. Obviously, that's the first step anybody would consider for, but these girls are comfortable and confident on that. So what's this about then? This is about a quest they had undertaken that becomes theirs foremost priority. That's why it looked so fresh, despite there's no story in it, just the random happenings. So I think it is an underrated film. I was aware of this film when it came out, but had no luck to have a watch. Very engaging narration, there's always something keeps happening. That is one of the reasons to hook with it till the last, despite technical flaws. I mean, in many parts, the camera work was sloppy, like out of focus and too much close up shots. They might have done it deliberately, but the viewers won't feel comfortable in a normal film and this one wasn't a normal film, not to me. I loved the locations, feels like I want to visit there. I think the filmmakers used it perfectly to the story they wanted to tell us. I know the end should have been in detail, but I'm happy for its simplicity. Besides, small film like this can't afford fancy conclusion and to commercialise. Now this is kind of artistic portrayal of struggle, as well as very edgy film. Its okay if you're not interested in this, but you should try it if an opportunity is near to you. 7/10 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This is similar to a script I have so I wanted to see it. I'm okay with it being slightly amateurish when it's shot by college students BUT I'm not okay with the messed up shots. Too close, wrong sight lines and jumping the line in the 2 shots. Also, I think the pacing could have been better. I do like the concept. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This seemed like a promising storyline, but some of the acting could have been better and the plot was boring in parts, with some things seeming a little ridiculous. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Boring, bad acting, bad story, bad writing Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Crooked Lake

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Movie Info

Synopsis After their hunky guide, Jonah (Guy Yarkoni), dies unexpectedly, a carefree canoing excursion becomes a frightening thrill ride for four teenagers -- Alysha (Alysha Aubin), Candice (Candice Mausner), Morgan (Morgan McCunn) and Steph (Stephannie Richardson) -- who find themselves lost in the wilderness. As night falls, the girls band together and struggle to maneuver through the perils of Crooked Lake, from a bloodthirsty pack of wolves to sudden thunderstorms and frothy rapids.
Director
Sascha Drews, Ezra Krybus, Matthew Miller
Producer
Nicholas Tabarrok, Jaty Tam, Matthew Miller
Screenwriter
Sascha Drews, Ezra Krybus, Matthew Miller
Distributor
Neoclassic Films
Rating
PG-13 (Smoking|Drug Use|Brief Strong Language|Some Disturbing Bloody Images)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Adventure, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 24, 2009, Limited
Release Date (DVD)
Apr 20, 2010
Runtime
1h 27m