Two girls grow-up in central Tennessee (Elizabeth Potthast and Kelsey Steele) when the latter goes off to college for a couple years. They decide to reunite at the former's family getaway in the backwoods, along with a couple of other college girls (Kelly Bartram and Olivia Arokiasamy),but there are no modern conveniences and something menacing is in the air. Jacob Briggs is also on hand.
"Be Still and Know" (2019) is a family friendly Indie that tackles the cabin-in-the-woods genre. It's thoroughly mundane compared to the typical movies of this genre, so don't expect silent masked killers with machetes or mutant hillbillies. There's a coming-of-age angle and I liked the subdued commentary on what schools of (supposed) higher learning do to students. It's reality in modern Western Civilization.
I found one element of the movie frustrating because the paranoia that is worked up could be resolved simply by a certain person offering a few details. Yet this is adequately explained by the end so it's all good.
The technical filmmaking is fine for such a spare change Indie. I appreciated the early birds-eye view of the region. Meanwhile the no-name actresses do fine with a well-written script that amusingly addresses social realities in the modern day.
I should point out that the title has zero to do with "I Know What You Did Last Summer," as a couple of critics curiously complained. It's simply a partial quote of Psalm 46:10, but this is hardly "Christian propaganda," as also criticized. Yes, two of the characters are Christians and there are a couple of tame prayers, whoopee. It reflects real-life in America (especially the fringes of Appalachia where the events take place).
At the end of the day, this is a worthwhile flick if you want a cabin-in-the-woods movie without the buckets of gore and eye-rolling (non)horror that instead focuses on realistic drama with a dash of spirituality.
Lastly, the bloopers at the end credits are fun, but tedious. IMHO deleted scenes like this should be relegated to the 'extras' section of the DVD or whatever.
The movie runs 1 hour, 23 minutes, and was shot outside Woodbury, Tennessee, at Yellow Bird Art Farm, which is just a mile or two southwest of the city. The college sequence was shot at Middle Tennessee State University, which is about 20 miles west of there in Murfreesboro.
GRADE: B-/C+
Plot summary
19-year old CJ, has lost touch with her childhood friend, Sophia, ever since she left small-town Willow Springs for college the year prior. Realizing how much they've grown apart, Sophia insists that CJ spends fall break at her grandfather's cabin, where they used to spend summers together. Reluctant, CJ gathers her new group of friends to join her for a fall escape they won't soon forget. Jocelyn and Amber, city girls at heart, embrace the wooded retreat but their excitement quickly turns to dread when they discover a vagabond living in a run-down trailer on the property. Heeding his warnings against them, the group of girls' decision to cut their trip short is foiled when Sophia disappears into the vast wooded terrain. As their fear and suspicions turn the girls against each other, CJ and her friends must find Sophia and decide if they are safer inside the cabin...or out. Told in the style of classic edge-of-your-seat "cabin films", Be Still And Know combines suspense with personal conflict and explores how faith is tested and relied on in times of trouble.
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Realistic cabin-in-the-woods tale
Suspense and Drama
4 friends spend a weekend in an abandoned cabin in the woods; what could possibly go wrong? This was a fabulous flick that had me on the edge of my seat and a great reminder (if you needed one) as to why 4 young females should never stay at an uninhabited cabin in the middle of nowhere along with the importance of stranger danger. Watch it, you won't be disappointed.
God is sovereign
This was a great movie. It showed that God is sovereign and works all things out for those who love him. It showed what unforgiveness can do and the cost of sin (lying and deceit). It showed the growth that can come with mistakes and difficult circumstances. This movie had a slow pace but it had some valuable lessons and it was a good watch, awesome music too.