Stray Dogs is a nice woodland drama about brotherly bonds and the everlasting love between a man and his dog — just kidding — the dog is dead and the brotherly relationship in shambles, however, this mellow thriller is shot rather beautifully and its story boasts elements of both the slasher genre and the supernatural, making for one interesting walk through the woods. Directed and co-written by Adam Gascho, Stray Dogs is now available via streaming platforms to grab forest thriller/horror enthusiasts by the tail for one darkly snow-white adventure.

Years ago, a man named Jeff (Skyler Pinkerton) took in a dog that he unexpectedly found on a hiking trail, growing deeply close with his then life companion. Now that his dog has recently died, Jeff guilt trips his nearly estranged brother Travis (Tad Davies) into accompanying him on a snowy backpacking trip in order to return his dog’s remains to the forest he was first found. Struggling to reach their destination, they allow a lone hiker named Angus (Adam Gascho) to join their party and share the supply load, however, his lack of sharing personal information increasingly draws the suspicion of the brothers, particularly after they learn that a murder victim was found in the woods the night before.

At times, Stray Dogs felt a little Hitchcockian, with the known killer being right in the audience’s face the entire time, meanwhile, the protagonist amasses clues to build suspense. There is no denying the acting prowess of the film’s lead character, Skyler Pinkerton who, as Jeff, is given heaps of melodramatic moments to chew on. He rises to the occasion with his sincere tears and trembling, and carries much of the emotional weight of the movie in conveying the estrangement of the family relationship and the grief over the loss of his true life companion, his dead dog. His supporting characters — the forest service worker, the hidden in plain sight killer, the self-absorbed brother, and even the always perfectly posed dog — all gave excellent acting performances as well, with minor slip-ups only happening when it came to the awkward choreography and editing of fight scenes.

I am slightly unpleasantly surprised by the production quality of the film, which felt a little undervalued on this project for it being distributed by Gravitas Pictures, which is normally good production quality despite its B grade content. Stray Dogs I would say is the opposite of their normal trend, a mountain adventure with a hefty amount of emotional pull and blood pools make an exciting story, but the production quality is reminiscent of iPhone and little attention to cinematography or interesting framings for this ethereal setting — seemed like a missed opportunity to make a truly hard-hitting film, but as it stands, Stray Dogs is overall worth the watch.

While watching Adam Gascho’s Stray Dogs, I was struck by the team’s ability to make a potentially great film on such a low budget, thankfully having a particularly endearing lead and a beautiful landscape to work with. My trance from the acting was only broken when the low budget showed cracks in the film’s ability to deliver immersion; the hallmark of any great journey/trek movie is feeling like one is on the journey/trek with the protagonist — I feel that Gascho and team accomplish this feeling for the most part. I enjoyed the film for the balance in tone it achieved from pitting spiritual wonder against cold-blooded slashing, as well as for the decision to bookend the film with a tearful introduction and a cathartic end to leave a lasting impression.

6 out of 10