Rust Creek (2019)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Up a 'Creek'

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Jen McGowan's low-budget thriller Rust Creek has good pacing and a fascinating character dynamic, but it's so riddled with lapses of logic and lame-brained behavior that it comes totally undone before it gets going.

College senior Sawyer (Hermione Corfield) lands a job interview in Washington D.C. and prepares for a road trip there during her Thanksgiving break. Unfortunately, traffic is terrible, so she uses her GPS to arrange a short cut. The short cut turns into a bad idea as she gets deeper and deeper into the Appalachian Woods, and her signal grows weaker.

She pulls over to study a map, and is approached by two locals, Hollister (Micah Hauptman) and Buck (Daniel R. Hill), who at first appear friendly, but who quickly turn aggressive. Sawyer fights back and, despite being stabbed in the leg, makes a run for it. She becomes lost in the woods and spends the night in a ravine.

She's found by Lowell (Jay Paulson), a meth cook who lives in an isolated trailer; he takes her in and dresses her wounds, but keeps her prisoner until he can figure a way to get her out. Meanwhile, the crooked Sheriff O'Doyle (Sean O'Bryan) and Hollister and Buck are on Sawyer's trail.

The Lowell character is the main reason Rust Creek works as well as it does. Most of the Appalachian characters are stereotypes, dimwitted hayseeds or thuggish bullies, but Lowell is surprisingly bright and sympathetic, even tragic. Even though he's never been anywhere or done anything, he takes pride in his job and has learned the chemistry behind all the steps, knows how things react with other things, etc. We may find ourselves surprised as Sawyer's relationship with him grows into something unexpected.

However, backing up, there is no end of problems with the script. Why is the job interview scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend? Why does Sawyer drive so far into the boondocks before she tries to find her way out again? How does she so quickly and easily get lost in the woods (she scrambles up a hill to escape; all she had to do was head back downhill)? Why is her car reported as "abandoned" after only a few hours, and who on this desolate stretch of road reported it? And why does she discard her hoodie in the woods when it's going to get cold?

And so on. Moreover, the good-hearted deputy Katz (Jeremy Glazer) — who otherwise seems pretty savvy — seals his fate when he drops his keys. It goes on, with one silly behavior or decision or coincidence after another, and the aggravation of Rust Creek soon outweighs the enjoyment.