In the near future, two teenage sisters, Nell and Eva, live in a remotely located home with their father, Robert. There is a massive, continent-wide power outage that appears to be part of a region-wide technological collapse. Nell goes to the SUV to get the headlamp, but fails to close the tailgate. The car battery is drained, so they are left stranded for days. A few weeks later, Robert gets the car working and they make it to the nearest town where they buy supplies, including gas from a man named Stan who's guarding his store. Later, Eva attends dance class while her sister meets up with Eli, a boy she has a crush on. Returning home, they see a stranded car and the girls' father offers to help the passengers. But, after they brandish guns, the family moves on. Robert says they will not return to town until the power is restored, but Nell throws a fit at this due to wanting to see Eli. Later, while Robert is cutting down a tree, a bolt on the chainsaw comes loose and he accidentally slashes his leg. The girls hear his screams and desperately try to help him, but Robert knows he is bleeding to death. In his final moments, he encourages the girls to love and take care of each other. They stay with his body throughout the night, while animals linger in the darkness. The next day, they bury him in the forest. Two months pass and the girls are low on food. Eli arrives one night, having walked there to see Nell. He says the surrounding houses are abandoned. Eva is upset that Eli is using their limited supplies and warns Nell not to get pregnant due to their already struggling situation. After Nell and Eli sleep together, he says there may still be power and order in Boston. He convinces Nell to go with him. They leave, but Eva refuses to go with them. After spending the night sitting awake on the road while Eli sleeps, Nell turns back, unwilling to leave Eva. Nell researches plants for food and medicine, and forages. Nell then has a night of celebration when she confirms she is not pregnant after her tryst with Eli. One day, while Nell is in the forest foraging, Eva is surprised by Stan while she is splitting logs outside the house. He assaults and rapes her before stealing most of the remaining gas and their SUV. The girls board up the house to prevent further scavengers and looters from arriving and harming them. A traumatized Eva stays indoors and lies in bed, refusing to eat. A few weeks later, Nell gets injured trying to move an embedded rock, and Eva rushes out to help her. Back inside, Eva helps her heal before breaking down sobbing and confesses how scared she is. The next morning, Eva finally begins to eat but starts throwing up. She soon realizes she is pregnant as a result of her rape. To Nell's surprise, Eva decides to keep the baby, saying that she "doesn't want to lose anything else". Eight months later, the power still has not been restored. Nell is taking care of a now heavily-pregnant Eva and learns how to hunt and kill animals to get Eva needed nutrition. During a bad rain storm, several beams of the roof break and Eva goes into labor. The sisters flee for Nell's hollowed-out tree stump fort in the forest, where Eva gives birth to a baby boy. Returning to their ruined and condemned home, Eva, decides to burn down the house so that anyone passing will think that they died in a fire. Before setting the house ablaze, they collect a few precious items and keepsakes, and begin to walk into the darkened forest to set up camp at the hollow tree trunk.
On October 21, 2013, Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood joined the cast. Principal photography and production began on July 28, 2014. On August 27, 2014, Max Minghella and Callum Keith Rennie joined the cast.
Release
The film premiered in the Special Presentation section at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2015. Shortly after, A24 Films and DirecTV Cinema acquired U.S distribution rights to the film, it premiered on DirecTV before showing theaters. In December 2015, the film was announced as part of TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten screening series of the ten best Canadian films of the year. It was released theatrically in 15 theaters in Canada on June 3, 2016 and in the United States on July 29. The film played for one week in 15 theaters where it grossed nearly $10,000.
Reception
Into the Forest received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 76%, based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 6.83/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Into the Forest grounds its familiar apocalyptic framework with a relatable look at the bond between two sisters, compellingly brought to life by Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 59 out of 100, based on 18 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
