Charlie Griak

NINA OF THE WOODS: finding the supernatural – but for real this time

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Megan Hensley in Charlie Griak’s NINA OF THE WOODS, premiering at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

The supernatural thriller Nina of the Woods follows a cynical reality TV crew into a forest; the struggling actress Nina (Megan Hensley) has signed on to the gig, and the shoot happens to take place where Nina grew up. This is one of those lurid shows about the supposed supernatural – sensationalizing phenomena from aliens to Sasquatch; these guys are used to creating the ILLUSION of the supernatural, not FINDING the supernatural. Everyone gets a surprise.

The show’s on-screen host Jeremy (Daniel Bielinski) is the biggest asshole, but this is mostly a jaded bunch. As the crew sneers at the working class locals, they get some truth from Eric the camera guy (Ricardo Vázquez),

These are the people who actually watch your show.  Average people.  This is who you do it for…. “Reality”. This is reality. Not what we do.  No one would want to watch the real thing anyway.   It’s too much and too boring all at the same time. Who would care?

A local backwoods guide (Shawn Patrick Boyd) is hired; he is a very serious guy who respects the menace of this particular forest. Nina, having been raised by a father with a spiritual sense of the forest, can also sense something off kilter.

Now something happens that is unexplainable on the time/space matrix. Weird shit happens, and the party happens upon more than they bargained for.

Director and co-writer Charlie Griak unsettles us without employing gore or monsters. Nothing is as unsettling as when our reality is challenged.

In 2015, Cinequest hosted the world premiere of Griak’s debut feature (The Center), a remarkably good drama about recruitment for a Scientology-like cult. Hensley played Annika in The Center.

Griak inserts file footage of old Northwest lumberjacks at work with some very cool Foley.

Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Nina of the Woods.

Cinequest: THE CENTER

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THE CENTER
THE CENTER

The ever-absorbing The Center explores how someone of sound mind and normal disposition can be completely enveloped by a cult.  The Center is writer-director Charlie Griak’s first feature, and it’s a very impressive debut.

We meet Ryan (Matt Cici), a talented guy with low self-esteem.  He is highly functional and ultra-responsible, but it seems like nobody is in his corner.  The first six minutes of this screenplay paint a detailed portrait of a guy who is crapped upon more than Job.  No one encourages Ryan to do anything for himself, and he ends each night alone, with a beer and late-night TV.  Then someone else shows personal interest in the hang-dog Matt, and he gradually slides into what at first seems the appreciation of his potential, but which is revealed to be a web of exploitation.

The audience recognizes some red flags before Ryan does, but every step in this story is credible – and there isn’t a cliché in sight.  The keys to The Center’s success are the crafting of the Ryan character and the believability of the story.  Ryan’s journey is compressed into a taut and compelling 72 minutes.

Matt Cici, who is in virtually every shot, is perfect as Ryan – a guy with plenty to offer, but whose lack of self-confidence sets him up for exploitation by everyone else.  The acting is strong throughout The Center.  Ramon Pabon is especially memorable as a twitchy loser who has been sucked into the cult.  With piercing eyes, Judd Einan nails the role of the uberconfident, emotionally bullying cult founder.  Annie Einan is excellent as Ryan’s world-weary sister, so burdened by their mother’s care that she can’t be there for Ryan until she spots the crisis in his life.

This spring, HBO will premiere documentarian Alex Gibney’s (Taxi to the Dark Side, We Steal Secrets, Client 9, Casino Jack and the United States of Money) expose of Scientology – Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.  Going Clear will be a big deal, and will beg the question, “How can smart, able people fall into this stuff?”.  The Center should become the perfect narrative fiction companion to Going Clear.

One more thing – The Center was shot in St. Paul, Minnesota, a city that I’m not used to seeing in a movie.  The Center’s sense of place (a place fresh and unfamiliar to many of us, anyway) adds to its appeal.

With The Center, Charlie Griak has shown himself to be a very promising filmmaking talent and has left a serious professional calling card.  I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Cinequest will host the world premiere of The Center on February 27, and it will play again on March 1 and March 3, all in Camera 12.