Go North Is A Charming Romance, Lacks Dramatic Punch

Go North, from director Matthew Ogens, is very well-made film with some solid performances that simply fails to be all that interesting. The film follows Josh (Jacob Lofland), an introverted teenager on the hunt for his lost parents and a place to call home following some sort of catastrophic event. The film begins in a school run by a group of older boys lead by Caleb (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and his hot-headed sidekick Gentry (James Bloor). The film doesn’t give us any sort of exposition dump to tell us what’s going on or why, but you get the sense early on from the lack of adults and general dilapidation that there is some sort of Lord of the Flies situation going on.

This is one of the issues Go North has, you’re never really sure what lead to the world being as it is, and while certain things become more clear over the course of the film, narrative detail slowly trickles in and by the end of the film the viewer is still left largely in the dark about the big picture. Now this isn’t necessarily a problem, in reality people don’t just go into expository monologues to get the audience up to speed. The lack of context does keep the viewer trying to put the pieces together, but it doesn’t feel like there are enough pieces here to work with.

While there isn’t much background to work with, the culture the film takes place in is intriguing. It has a sort of “The Walking Dead” feel of a compound with strict rules in place to promote the cohesion and survival of the group. Defiance of these rules (including a rule banning the practice of any religion) results in being sent to the line, essentially banishment from the group into the dangers of the wilderness beyond. At least we’re told it’s dangerous, most of what is taught at this school seems to be survival and how to handle the dangers that lurk everywhere, but when we later get to see the wider world there isn’t much of anything going on, dangerous or otherwise. I suppose you could argue that this is all just a story the kids are told to keep the group together, but it’s another element that seems like it could have been interesting that doesn’t really end up getting explored.

Josh is obsessed with going North, where his family had a cabin before the world went to hell, even going to far as to draw maps on his desk and on the walls of his home. He doesn’t have any real reason to believe things will be better up north, but he figures life isn’t sustainable where they’re at, especially with the meager rations they have and with winter quickly approaching. With that in mind and after getting into a fight with Gentry that would likely get his sent to the line anyway, he convinces Caleb’s sister Jessie (Sophie Kennedy Clark) to come with him on his journey north.

What follows is a game of cat and mouse as they make their way up through the landmarks Josh has to follow while being pursued by Caleb’s posse that seek to punish him and bring Jessie home. This makes up the bulk of the movie and it ends up being entertaining despite a general lack of narrative tension. This is largely due to Go North‘s polished aesthetic and quality performances. The cinematography is top notch as they make their way through desolate landscapes slowly being overtaken by nature. What could have been grey and drab is made visually captivating by sharp, saturated colors and slick editing. The music as well is quite engaging, featuring a large variety of different sounds and instruments that do a great job punctuating what is going on in a given scene.

A beautiful film without worthwhile performances isn’t going to stay interesting for long, however, and Go North‘s are generally strong. Lofland portrays Josh with a quiet strength, and while he doesn’t have the strongest presence, he does come out if his shell as a result of his relationship with Jessie throughout the film. Sophie Kennedy Clark gives the best performance in the film, playing a somewhat cliched sweet doe-eyed love interest, but imbuing it with enough charm that you can’t help but want the best for her character. The villains are a bit of a mixed bag with Caleb, played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, being a sympathetic antagonist that has fallen apart emotionally after the death of his parents and mistreats his sister, but still seems to care about her. Gentry on the other hand doesn’t have a lot of complexity outside of being a jerk and a bully, and not a particularly menacing one at that.

That’s the biggest issue Go North has, there isn’t much in the way of dramatic tension because there isn’t a lot at stake. Josh has no real reason to think that going North is going to accomplish anything, nor is there any significant threat. They aren’t being chased by zombies or even a bloodthirsty psychopath, but by a group of teenagers that seem like they can probably be reasoned with by having a simple conversation and explaining things. What that ends up leaving us with is a slow, understated trip through an abandoned city as our two leads connect and fall in love. It’s cute and they pull it off well enough, but it feels like they were going for something more tense and dramatic that what they ended up with.

Go North is a perfectly fine film and I could see myself recommending it to someone that liked understated adventure/romance movies, but it feels like it misses some opportunities to leave a stronger impression. The film is set to be released on January 13th.