“The Mountain Between Us”

While the title was meant to elude to the depth of human nature versus nature itself, the movie was subpar. The plot was driven only by surface level motives, and at times, felt overwhelmingly fast. For example, within fifteen or so minutes, the plane had already crashed on the mountain. There was little to no build up and even less backstory.

Moreover, the use of artistic technique fell flat in most places for me; foreshadowing and symbolism were the only ones that I could easily pick up on, and yet the attempts at these were poorly executed.

The acting wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t say that the movie showed off any particularly amazing ability. Kate Winslet and Idris Elba did their part, but the storytelling is what really needed work. Plot lines should never feel rushed, but maybe that’s because I’m an English major with an eye for detail.

Regardless, I’m not saying it was a bad movie, because it wasn’t. It’s worth the watch. It is, however, predictable, and where it aims to be unpredictable it struggles to go beneath skin deep relevancy. And that was my biggest complaint. I wanted it to give me something to walk away thinking about that I hadn’t thought about before, but it didn’t. I had to come up with that myself. And for nearly $12 per ticket, I shouldn’t have to do so.

So, my advice would be to wait until it has a TV-premier soon enough, because you’re not missing that much. In the process, you’ll be saving your money. But, if you’re looking for a similar movie while you’re waiting, turn on Lifetime Movies. I’ve found that no matter what they’re playing, they follow predictable plots too, but they’re usually hilariously extra about it. It’s wonderful (and free).