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On a trip with his friends Nev (Andrew Hayden Kang), Ignacio (Matthew
Mitchell Espinosa) amd Enoch (Thaddeus Newman), George (Kiyoshi Shishido)
has also brought his cousin Alan (Barron Leung) along, whom the others
have a problem with right from square one. Eventually, they make it to
their destination, a cabin in the woods, where they are faced with (never
clearly defined) problems, and while George goes for help, the others are
left with way too much alcohol - and Alan as their whipping boy. Until
things get too much for Alan and he's left with a couple of choices, all
spelling doom for someone ... Canary is really a
masterclass for leaving out things - and I mean this in the best possible
way, as it simply trusts its audience to be able to fill in the blanks and
withstands the desire to explain everything away. And this works quite so
well because as skeletal as it might be, the story is also
well-structured, uses non-linear storytelling to full effect, knows
exactly what to leave out and what not, and focuses on its main theme -
bullying - instead of more abstract horrors, while the direction is
atmosphere-heavy and thus manages to fill in some blanks in an
intentionally abstract way. And down-to-earth performances also help make
this a pretty cool genre experience.
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