‘Wrong Turn’ (2021) Is Year’s Most Fascinating Movie

This probably a controversial statement but there’s been no movie more fascinating to me in a long time than the newest entry in the Wrong Turn franchise. That isn’t to say it’s the best movie ever or even the best movie of the year. For those unfamiliar with Wrong Turn, it’s a horror movie franchise about dumb people making a “wrong turn” and end up getting killed and eaten by mutant cannibals.

Personally, I’m a massive fan of these movies. They are so so so dumb but also a ton of fun. The first two movies are such a blast to watch despite being pretty damn silly. The franchise went away after a sixth movie and it looked like Wrong Turn would only exist with the older films.

That was until a reboot of the franchise was announced. Honestly, I skipped the trailers for the movie and had no expectations for it. My sister was in town and we watched all the old Wrong Turn movies and thought it would be fun to watch some cannibals eat a bunch of dumb kids. To say that isn’t what we got would be a massive understatement.

Why ‘Wrong Turn’ 2021 Is so Fascinating

The film starts off pretty straightforward. A bunch of young, educated people head to podunk nowhere West Virginia and have some hamfisted dialogue about how racist the town is. The group of friends is as diverse as possible and,  at first, it seems like this is going to be a horribly preachy horror film that’s aiming for “social commentary.” While it is distracting at first, the movie starts to get interesting about 30 minutes in.

The friends travel through the woods, typical horror movie stuff happens and they run into people with masks. As somebody who has seen Wrong Turn movies in the past, I expected the people under the masks to be mutant cannibals. The complete opposite happens. I don’t want to sit here and spell out the whole plot but the movie not what I expected in the slightest.

There are horror elements in the movie but I wouldn’t really call this a horror movie. To me, it’s a thought-provoking psychological thriller. Many will read that sentence and roll their eyes but I was thoroughly impressed with the effort.

The most interesting thing about this movie is that Alan B. McElroy, who wrote the original film of the franchise, is also responsible for this script. He takes a tired idea and creates a story that is surprising and engaging. Now, it’s borderline false advertisement to call it Wrong Turn. There is no connective tissue between the movies whatsoever. If this movie was just called The Mountain or something, it probably would’ve been better received.

Mike P. Nelson shows off a lot of skill as a director here. The film looks good and while there aren’t many memorable scares, there is some really effective tension. This is going to sound insane coming from a Wrong Turn movie but the final shot of this film is masterful. It’s one of the best final shots I’ve ever seen in a film.

The performances also deserve a ton of credit. Charlotte Vega as Jen and Bill Sage as Venable are excellent. Not every performance is a standout but those two carry the movie.

All of this isn’t to say that Wrong Turn is a masterpiece. There is some cheese and sloppy storytelling. It’s also not particularly scary. Wrong Turn will be dismissed as just an average remake of a silly movie franchise but the film deserves a ton of credit for subverting expectations in a way that creates a much more interesting film.

Verdict: Witness