Hair of the Bear (2025)

Films from the French-speaking part of Canada always hold something extra for me. The accent alone—finally a kind of French I can actually understand. A pleasant cast too, with Malia Baker whom I hadn't seen before, and Roy Dupuis who made an unforgettable impression with his role as Colonel Romeo Dallaire.

The story takes place in an absolutely idyllic spot in the middle of the wilderness, and the girl Tori is left there with her grandpa—the kind of grandpa everyone is entitled to, too: a stereotypical grumpy old man who is actually secretly still too young to be a grandpa.

When the bad guys finally appear, the game begins—and for a moment it looks a bit like a rip-off of Dead of Winter (2025). But it is a very different film, nonetheless, and with a very different atmosphere. I feel the mystical element could have been emphasized a lot more—and that might also have done the title a bit more justice. Somewhere along the line, it comes across as if that was actually the intention, but something got lost in the final edit.

Something for you to fill in yourself as to how the plot would have unfolded if I had been allowed to write it. Still, it is a very nice film even without it.

Translated from Dutch · View original