Backcountry is a 2014 Canadian horror/thriller film written and directed by Adam MacDonald, starring Missy Peregrym and Jeff Roop.
The film follows a couple, Alex (Roop) and Jenn (Peregrym), who embark on a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness in an attempt to rekindle their relationship. Unfortunately, things go badly awry very quickly when it becomes clear just how unprepared they are for the trip, and things go From Bad to Worse when they run out of food and water. And if the elements don't get to them first, then the wildlife eventually will.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- Artistic License – Biology: While the Black Bear finding their tent and mauling Alex is very accurate, Jenn using Bear Spray at point-blank range against the bear is one of the worst things you can EVER do when being attacked by a Black Bear.
- When camping, Bear Spray is one of the most important things to bring along because it basically gives Bears a scent that tells them to fuck off, but it's not meant for point-blank Bear encounters, hence why the Black Bear doesn't leave after being sprayed with it. Spraying a Bear with Bear Spray at point-blank will just piss it off and if it wasn't already thinking about killing the sprayer (not that Bears are sadistic assholes anyway), it's definitely thinking about killing you now.
- Spraying it in a tight space is even worse due to the fact it's a weaker form of pepper spray for Bears. Not only can it make breathing very difficult, it can also blind you and incapacitate you.
- Normally, Bears (excluding Polar Bears) are docile and don't usually attack humans, let alone drag them out of tents and maul them to death. When Bears do feel threatened, they will charge and most definitely attack the threat. And while it's possible for a Bear to go out of its own way to attack humans, that can only happen when a Bear has had so many interactions with humans, that it has learned a behavior to become a deliberate predator of human beings.
- Bears Are Bad News: Alex and Jenn get repeatedly menaced by a black bear while camping.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Alex is dragged out of his tent and graphically mauled to death by a black bear. If you thought the bear attack in The Revenant was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.
- Horrible Camping Trip: Alex and Jenn go on a camping trip in an attempt to rekindle their relationship. Unfortunately, things start to go south when it's revealed that they're woefully unprepared (as in Alex purposefully left Jenn's cell phone behind, and didn't even bring a map), and things go From Bad to Worse when all their food and water is lost. The two end up being attacked in their tent by a black bear, and Jenn is forced to flee after the bear drags Alex away and starts eating him alive.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The film is loosely based on a real-life incident that occurred in Missinaibi Lake Provincial Park near Chapleau, Ontario in 2005. The biggest difference is that in real life, the girlfriend died while the boyfriend survived.
