Black Rock is an American horror film released on May 17, 2013 by LD Entertainment. It was directed by Katie Aselton and the screenplay was written by her husband Mark Duplass. Aselton also stars in the film along with Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell as three friends who fight for their lives on a remote island.
Aselton developed this film because she wanted to direct a realistic thriller the audience would find riveting. She convinced her husband to write the screenplay and the couple financed the film with crowd sourcing, in which they solicited a large online community for funds. Submarine Entertainment managed the crowd sourcing sales for the film.
The film begins with Sarah (Kate Bosworth) inviting her friends Abby (Katie Aselton) and Lou (Lake Bell) to an island off the coast of Maine where they once spent time as children. The three women have grown apart as adults and hope to become closer during their vacation on the island. They meet Henry (Will Bouvier), Derek (Jay Paulson), and Alex (Anslem Richardson), who are hunting on the island. The two groups are friendly at first, and they begin talking and drinking. The atmosphere becomes more tense when the men reveal they’re soldiers who were dishonorably discharged while serving in the Middle East.
Abby is relatively unphased by the confession, and she eventually decides to have sex with Henry. They wander into the woods to have sex, but Abby changes her mind when Henry scares her. Abby ends up hitting Henry in the head while defending herself from the rape. Henry dies as a result, and his two friends began stalking the three women in a deadly game of hide-and-seek.
Mark Duplass is a veteran screenwriter of low-budget independent films known as “mumblecore.” The story in “Black Rock” is a fight for survival between men and women, and the horror found in this relatively realistic scenario is typical of Duplass’ work. His independent influence is clearly visible throughout the film, which is Aselton’s second stint as director in a feature film. Aselton is familiar to many viewers as Jenny on the television series “The League”. However, her role in “Black Rock” is a significant departure from the wisecracking housewife she plays in the show.
Fans of this genre will recognize the film’s similarity to “Deliverance” with the simple efficiency of its plot. The 83-minute film intersperses terrifying action scenes with slower scenes, during which the characters experience emotional breakthroughs despite the survivalist nature of their circumstances. It’s during these introspective scenes Duplass’ work in mumblecore films is most evident. Duplass has a reputation for writing brutally honest screenplays based on events that occur in real life. He continues this reputation in “Black Rock,” although this film doesn’t permit Duplass to show his comedic side that’s apparent in his other screenplays.
Aselton excels as director due to her success in eliciting strong performances from the three actresses, including herself, Bell, and Bosworth. Aselton also reproduces each scene in her husband’s screenplay faithfully. The performances show real aggression and vulnerability from characters that would otherwise be flat and predictable. This is especially important in moving the story along given the film’s short running time. The strong acting also helps the audience overlook the seeming incongruity of ordinary women defeating a pair of armed ex-soldiers on an uninhabited island.
The lead characters in this film must call on their most primal instincts to survive under adrenaline-pumping circumstances. They’re eventually willing to go to great lengths in order to survive, as illustrated by one scene in which the women sneak through the forest completely nude. These acts give “Black Rock” a raw, thrilling feel that will remind audience members of other films where humans become the prey such as “The Most Dangerous Game.”
Aselton’s film is surprisingly effective at evoking terror given the methodical simplicity of the plot. The extremely visceral performances from the female cast members make the film seem even shorter than it is. This is a positive characteristic in “Black Rock,” where the ideas in this film don’t require multiple scenes or a long run time to express. The philosophy of “less is more” is essential for making this film enjoyable.
