DuskShadow It is hard for most to pull themselves away from all the tech crawl crap of our modern, lame times. Yet for those with an appreciation for survival and self reliance, you will know the merits or setting out on your own.To live out in the woodlands, let alone survive in a situation of duress or sickness , without hospitals, restaurants or everything we take for granted in our cities, such a situation can be terrible indeed.For a seemingly predictable tale of a family's camping sojourn gone awry , I thought I knew where it was going. MY mind sought the closest movie in a similar setting I could think of, being Antichrist with Willam Dafoe. And that movie , just as The Barrens, had its ups and downs in terms of quality, not just suspense.But The Barrens was something I could identify with at its most nervous or sickly. Having lived in the mountains, surrounded by nature, when something happened, you had to be prepared yourself. PERIOD. Money was no good either. Couldn't pay a tree for entertainment or bribe an animal for the meat off its bones. Whatever you came with, you had to use it and hope you prepared well enough. And having been ill out there, alone, in the fallen snow and deathly cold, I know what its like to suffer from illness with no recourse but to trudge onward.Though the acting was a tad on the lame side, I still appreciated it at its most basic level. There was little CG which allowed for appreciation of the natural surroundings. Which is what its all about. Myths about forest dwelling monsters or creatures that go bump often are part myth expanded upon a truth so ancient and nearly forgotten that the moral is lost: Nature will always have its way, there's no good or bad. Just a beginning and an end.I would say its a high end B movie at best, which compared to all I have seen, is high praise lol. Happy Trails.

hermon-663-324436 I think the Story of this movie is great! But the movie is a slow starter and one of those movies that you literally have to be stupid to put yourself in this situation. I barely finished it because i was so aggravated how stupid people were and all that just to make a movie? It is very rare nowadays where there is a movie that without a doubt in your mind you still think "Damn that could have happened to me too!" This movie the whole time has you like. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!! Watch it yourself and see for your self. Just bare through it :)I would love to produce a movie or be a thought in making it. You would get that type of movie from my script that makes you feel helpless and full about your attempts to survive.

kosmasp No pun intended with that summary line. The movie really sets the bar above average and tries to give you a story you can hang on to. This may be from the guy who did 3 of the Saw movies (as director, he was involved in more than those prior to directing them), but that does not mean you get to see many violent scenes here. You will mostly witness the aftermath of something.It is important for the story that this happens like that. And we're back to the story department. Either you'll like where this is going (more psychological) or you will repelled by it. The main actor has to pull quite some weight. And I think he does a good job doing so. Mia Kirshner: I almost didn't recognize her. But she does more than a decent job in this too. The ending will once again split the audience. Those that remained and watched it through that is. Not perfect, but more than a solid effort

Richard Bold Before I watch a film, I tend to check IMDb. Sadly,the negatives always prove right. Especially with 'The Barrens'.This film had a positive review, but I struggle to see why.OK, I like a good low-budget film (e.g. Carriers), but this was too much. The director did try to create tension - a teenage daughter, protecting a young child, a possibly errant wife, etc., but it all amounted to nothing.I found myself second-guessing the dialogue, and the story. After an hour of suffering, I gave up.A nice try, but try harder.