Title: Camp
MPA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Avalon Fast
Starring: Zola Grimmer, Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins

What It Is: Emily (Grimmer) is a troubled young woman trying to survive the trivial nature of college, convinced that she’s mostly moved on from a cataclysmic mistake made in the past. When a night of frivolousness at an artsy college party causes her best friend harm, Emily finds herself starting over once again, this time  at a Christian summer camp as a counselor. Surrounded by the similarly disturbed camp counselors, Emily begins to lose herself in rituals of drugs, drinking, and witchcraft as she struggles to find inner peace and the strength to forgive.

What We Think: This is an excitingly fresh ‘mood’ flick that intuitively navigates such a realistically disturbing, tragic narrative. I was truly blown away by lead Zola Grimmer’s performance, playing both a thick-skinned, brutally honest cynic and the fragile, heartbroken young woman with such raw energy. Her as Emily is the highlight of the film, as well as the heart as we vicariously experience her struggle to find sanctity despite living with eternally heavy guilt. The film asks, how do you live with yourself after doing the unforgivable? This indie sings to notes of deadpan comedy guided by the magic of the feminine will, all while frighteningly morose to its core. You feel the weight and sadness that pulls its characters, especially Emily, down to Earth. Such an emotional journey is intricately photographed through trance-like cinematography, capturing our characters in the lush, haunting forest, a warm magical attic, or an unexciting college party. From the get-go, my attention was immediately had by the pretty, melancholic music and prologue scene, shot entirely on film and made to look like a distant memory or dream. These dreamlike elements helped make the feel of the movie even more special, unique, and childlike. Much of this coming-of-age tragedy reminds of indie tragi-flicks like Ethan Eng’s Therapy Dogs, confronting depressingly real issues with realism without sacrificing style, as well as allows room for some absurdity.

Our Grade: B, Magical and meditative, this tragic coming-of-age confronts meaning and trauma with pretty visual expression and an earth-shaking performance by Grimmer. While it feels like its narrative could have had more to offer at its tail-end, it still stands as a frosty tale of finding inner peace that many of us would find cathartic to experience. I feel this is a vehicle that could help heal some young people contemplating ideas of self-destruction and guilt. This is an expression of human fragility that intuitively balances angst and preciousness without being overstated, and one I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for such explore such a thing.