''Walking Out'' is a 2017 American

survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by Alex & Andrew J. Smith, starring

Matt Bomer Matthew Staton Bomer (born October 11, 1977) is an American actor. He is the recipient of accolades such as a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2000, he made his television debut o ...

, and based on a short story of the same name by

David Quammen David Quammen (born February 24, 1948) is an American science, nature, and travel writer and the author of fifteen books. His articles have appeared in ''Outside Magazine'', ''National Geographic'', '' Harper's'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''The New York ...

. It was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of the

2017 Sundance Film Festival The 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29, 2017. The first lineup of competition films was announced November 30, 2016. Awards The following awards were presented: * Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – ''I Don't Feel at ...

. It was executive produced by Rodrigo Garcia, and it was released on October 6, 2017 by

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...

. It was filmed on location in Livingston, Paradise Valley, and Bozeman, Montana. The film received critical acclaim.

Plot

Once a year, David flies to Montana from Texas while on school break. David lives with his mother and makes one annual visit to see his father Cal, an avid outdoorsman. David is most used to the city life and has a firm attachment to his smartphone, with which he incessantly plays games and texts his mom. Father and son have a rather estranged relationship. David barely looks up from his phone when his dad arrives at the airport to pick him up. Neither seems excited to see the other and Cal makes it clear that he wants David to participate in outdoor activities. He's stern with David, but they each handle the other with restraint. David would rather not go pheasant-hunting but agrees to join his old man. Cal takes it one step further and asks him if he'd like to go on a moose-hunting expedition in the snow-peaked mountains. David is reluctant but also feels obligated to make the trek. High up in the mountains Cal is accidentally shot in the leg and it is up to David to get them both out. David carries his father on his back down the mountain, taking breaks to tend to his father. Though he loses his way, he finds a remote house, where he and his father receive care. A doctor arrives, informing David that Cal died, likely at some point the previous morning. David responds "I know", indicating he was aware that his father was dead while he carried him down the mountain.

Cast

as Cal **

Alex Neustaedter Alexander Francis Neustaedter (born March 29, 1998) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Bram Bowman in ''Colony''. Career In 2009, Neustaedter debuted in the film ''Albino Farm'', playing Samuel. In 2010, he starred as Caleb Johnso ...

as Young Cal *

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

as Clyde *

Chaske Spencer Chaske Spencer (pronounced ''Chess-Kay''; born March 9, 1975) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Sam Uley in '' The Twilight Saga'' film series (2009–2012), Teddo in the acclaimed film ''Wild Indian'', and for his r ...

as Sun Bear * Josh Wiggins as David *

Lily Gladstone Lily Gladstone (born August 2, 1986) is an American actress. Biography Raised in Browning, Montana, Gladstone is of Blackfeet and Nimíipuu heritage. Gladstone is also a distant relative of British Prime Minister William Gladstone. After gradu ...

as Lila

Critical reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 49 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Beautifully filmed and powerfully acted, ''Walking Out'' effectively balances tense father-son drama against an affecting wilderness survival story." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walking Out 2017 films 2017 drama films 2010s survival films American drama films American survival films Films about father–son relationships Films about death Films about hunters Films set in Montana Films shot in Montana 2010s English-language films 2010s American films