‘Walking Against the Rain’ Review – Has Promise [Panic Fest 2023]
Chad Collins
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Indie horror creators are pioneers. It’s worth remembering that Gareth Edwards’ low-budget, giant monster flick Monsters was the springboard for the best entry in Legendary’s ongoing MonsterVerse. Even when these projects aren’t entirely successful, there’s moxie in seeing a singular vision come to life. Scott Lyus’ Walking Against the Rain, premiering at the 2023 Panic Fest, is imbued with plenty of humanistic vision. Unfortunately, the entire enterprise amounts to an environmental narrative, and a pretty nondescript one at that.
Indie titles of Walking Against the Rain’s ilk are especially difficult to review insofar as there is an overwhelming awareness that the filmmakers are working with considerably fewer resources than most. Walking Against the Rain’s limited cast, infrequent action, and bend toward implication over manifestation isn’t a fault of Lyus’, and at times, he makes successful use of those few resources he does have. Blair (Sophia Eleni) and Anthony (Reece Douglas) are two strangers coexisting, together but apart, some might say, in a nebulous apocalyptic landscape. They connect via a pair of walkie talkies in the first act. Anthony and Blair mutually decide to head toward the same destination from their respective origin points.
There are broad brushstrokes of some nascent threat outside. This includes the Forsaken, a monster that is tracking the pair down, ably conceived by FX designer Dan Martin. While it looks a bit too familiar to several other quasi-aquatic humanoid monsters—it has spikes, jet black flesh—it works, especially considering its practical nature. While the action beats are relegated to repetition—the monster appears, pounces on its prey, then flees—the tactile nature of the interaction adds some oomph to otherwise predictable action beats.
Lyus noted human connection as the impetus for Walking Against the Rain. He wanted to explore a world where human connection is so rare so as to become a valuable relic of the past. They’re worthwhile ambitions, even if the full thematic heft never materializes. Outdoor lighting is oversaturated. Peripheral visual effects clash with the landscape’s more naturalistic elements. Ambient music elevates the more stilted beats of distant dialogue, desperately trying to cull depth and pathos from expected exchanges. The exploration of loss and grief is surface level. While well-intentioned, it rarely lands in the expected way.
Truthfully, Walking Against the Rain is an exercise in intention. While the low-fi apocalypse is compelling at times, it too often begs the question. The world itself is visually indistinct, a problem in a subgenre where the world is a character unto itself. The movie mentions cults and other violent monsters. Yet, the movie hides these suggestions. They don’t even influence the trajectory of either lead. Neither faces much in the way of obstacles as they travel an ostensibly harsh landscape from one point to another.
Broadly, the state of the world is undercooked, apocalyptic bark with no bite. While Lyus explores the singular experiences of his two leads, the world of Walking Against the Rain in its present state simply is. The material never mines political or cultural relevancy to engender audience empathy. There’s nothing in this world to suggest it was once like ours. Essentially, there’s nothing to ground the audience in the lives of two strangers.
Walking Against the Rain, true to its title, features a lot of walking. Lyus, who also wrote the script, has an enviable interest in the human condition and those shared experiences that connect us to one another. Prioritizing the journey over the destination, Walking Against the Rain needed a journey. It doesn’t have one. This one walks exactly where the audience would expect. The best intentions in the world won’t be enough to compensate for how little it amounts to. Lyus is certainly one to watch. In time, Walking Against the Rain might be a rough footnote in a promising career. For now, audiences will consider treading from the path so as to not get soaked in the disappointment of what could have been.
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Walking Against the Rain
Summary
Scott Lyus’ Walking Against the Rain yields promise, even if it’s mostly a frustrating exercise in what could have been.
