In a Violent Nature

Nature is unforgiving.

Directed By

Chris Nash

Produced By

Shannon Hanmer
Peter Kuplowsky

Written By

Chris Nash

Starring

Ry Barrett
Andrea Pavlovic
Cameron Love
Reece Presley
Liam Leone
Charlotte Creaghan
Lea Rose Sebastianis
Sam Roulston
Alexander Oliver
Timothy Paul McCarthy
Lauren Taylor

Music By

Christine Leslie

Cinematography

Pierce Derks

Editing By

Alex Jacobs

Produced By

Shudder Films
Zygote Pictures
Low Sky Productions

Distributed By

Shudder

Release Date

May 31, 2024
Sundance:
January 24, 2024

Runtime

94 minutes

Country

Canada

Language

English

Gross

$4,426,389

Followed by

In a Violent Nature 2

In a Violent Nature is a 2024 Canadian slasher film written and directed by Chris Nash, and starring Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, and Lauren-Marie Taylor. Described as an "ambient slasher", it follows a mute killer who is accidentally resurrected from his grave in the Ontario wilderness by a group of teenagers, whom he then begins stalking and murdering. The events depicted are largely observed from the killer's perspective.

In a Violent Nature premiered on January 22, 2024, at the Sundance Film Festival, as part of the festival's "Midnight" program, and was theatrically released in the United States and Canada by IFC Films on May 31. Opening on 1,426 screens, it marked IFC Films's widest theatrical release to date, and grossed $3 million in its first week. It is scheduled to be released on the streaming service Shudder later in the year. It has received largely favorable reviews from film critics. On July 26th, it was announced that a sequel is in development.

Premise[]

“	The enigmatic resurrection, rampage, and retribution of an undead monster in a remote wilderness unleashes an iconic new killer after a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower that entombed its rotting corpse.	„
	― In a Violent Nature

Plot[]

A group of friends discover a locket hanging on the remains of a fire tower. One of them, Troy, pockets it. Moments later, the corpse of Johnny rises from the ground. Enraged, he begins his search for the locket and walks through the woods. He pauses at the sight of a rotting fox corpse and hears a nearby argument between two men, one of whom set the traps that killed the fox. Johnny walks to a house and enters unnoticed. When he sees a necklace that he mistakes for his locket, he has a brief memory of his father. The homeowner soon returns, but is horrified by Johnny and runs away. In the woods, he gets his leg stuck in his own bear trap and is killed by Johnny. Later, Johnny hears a car in the distance and pursues it.

Johnny approaches the group of friends sitting around a campfire. One of them, Ehren, recounts Johnny's death: Decades prior, Johnny, the developmentally delayed son of a local merchant, was tricked into climbing the fire tower for a "bag of toys", only to find someone waiting at the top to scare him. He fell from the tower to his death, which was deemed accidental. According to legend, two series of murders decades apart are attributed to Johnny's vengeful spirit. After the story, the group goes inside their cabin. Ehren steps outside and is killed by Johnny with a drawknife. Johnny then drags his body to a nearby park ranger office. Inside, Johnny collects a pair of dragging hooks and an axe, and dons an antique firefighter mask.

The next day, Johnny comes across Aurora and Brodie on a lake dock. Brodie wants to swim, but Aurora leaves to practice yoga. As Brodie swims in the lake alone, Johnny submerges in the water and drowns her. He then pursues Aurora, who is standing near a cliffside practicing yoga. Johnny kills her with his dragging hooks, before throwing her mutilated body off the cliff.

Later, Troy, Colt, and Evan argue over car keys and their missing friends, and one throws his keys into the woods, which Johnny picks up. He plays with an attached toy car keychain as Colt and Kris drive off on an ATV. Johnny then kills Troy and Evan. Colt and Kris return shortly afterward, having found Ehren's body at the park ranger station, but flee at the sight of Johnny. By nightfall, Johnny approaches the station, where the ranger is explaining to Colt and Kris that the locket—which Kris is wearing—is what keeps Johnny's soul at rest. The ranger momentarily subdues Johnny with a shotgun, but Johnny paralyzes him as Colt and Kris flee. Johnny kills the ranger by dismembering him with a log splitter.

Later, Colt attempts to distract Johnny to trap him, but Johnny kills him with an axe. A shellshocked Kris leaves Johnny's locket hanging on a gas canister and flees into the woods. She accidentally injures her leg, but by dawn manages to limp to a nearby road. A woman in a pickup truck stops and offers to drive her to a hospital. In an attempt to reassure Kris, the woman recounts how her brother, a game warden, survived a bear mauling in the same woods decades prior. The woman notices that Kris's bleeding has worsened and stops the truck, insisting that she put a tourniquet around the injured leg. Terrified, Kris begs her to keep driving and peers into the woods, waiting for something to appear. Elsewhere, the left-behind gas canister is missing Johnny's locket, indicating that he’s finally at peace.