2023 Movie
Dir. Ben Ketai · Hungary, United States of America · English
Lean and effective, this remake of the 1994 thriller of the same name is watchable from start to end (as long as you don’t compare it to the original)
While it starts off slow and rocky, River Wild sails smoothly as soon as it hits the waters. The rafting on the rapids, the wild chases, the suspenseful silences—all are effectively shot and believably terrifying, even if they border on predictability at times. Real-life couple Meester and Brody are vulnerable and intense, adding some depth to an otherwise basic story. Killam is compelling too, especially during the action sequences, but I might have seen him in one-too-many comedy sketches to trust his sincerity here. It’s not the best outdoor thriller by a long shot, especially if you compare it to the superior 1994 original film starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon, but it is entertaining in its own right.
Follows a pair of siblings who love but distrust each other as they embark on a white-water rafting trip with a small group. One of their friends from childhood turns out to be more dangerous than he appears.
Joey (Leighton Meester) joins her brother Gray (Taran Killam) and his childhood friend Trevor (Adam Brody) on a rafting trip that goes sideways.
The cold open plays like a Jeep commercial, and while I agree it is a sturdy and pretty car (it goes through rocky terrain like butter!), this scene alone almost made me want to turn the movie off. I probably would’ve if the ad ran for a second more, but thankfully, it didn’t stretch on for too long. It was a distracting but ultimately harmless appearance that probably (thankfully?) covered a hefty chunk the film’s limited budget.
With just 91 minutes of run time, it’s a one-and-done thriller with enough emotional heft to carry it through—in other words, the perfect weeknight watch.
Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She's also seen You've Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it's one of the greatest films out there.
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