PopHorror Let's Get Scared
If you’re looking for the perfect Pride Month-friendly horror flick to add to your watchlist, it may be worth taking a look at The Retreat. Brought to you by director Pat Mills (Strays TV series), it’s a gore-soaked slasher picture that places a lesbian couple at the center of the action. It stars Tommie-Amber Pirie (Bitten TV series), Sarah Allen (Secret Window 2004), Rossif Sutherland (Reign TV series), Aaron Ashmore (Smallville TV series), Munro Chambers (Degrassi: The Next Generation TV series), Chad Connell (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones 2013), and many more. It’s also short and sweet thanks to a trim 82-minute runtime.
The Retreat is the story of Valerie (Allen) and Renee (Pirie), a lesbian couple who seem to be at a crossroads in their relationship. Renee struggles with commitment issues, so it’s not just that she isn’t ready to settle down. She’s not sure whether she’s cut out for “forever relationships” at all. Meanwhile, Valerie feels like she’s in limbo and wonders whether she should just cut her losses and call it quits with Renee.
However, their issues don’t stop them from planning a getaway to an idyllic, gay-owned bed and breakfast with another couple, friends Scott (Chambers) and Connor (Connell). However, the incredibly hospitable owners of the location seem a little too good to be true—as do many things about the retreat—putting Valerie and Renee on edge from the moment they arrive.
Of course, as is the case with slasher films, the protagonists’ suspicions turn out to be right on, and nothing goes as planned. Shortly after arriving, Connor and Scott are mysteriously nowhere to be found. Eventually, it becomes clear that a group of armed extremists has targeted the bed and breakfast, and everyone’s in danger. Will Valerie and Renee survive and eventually work through their difficulties? And, perhaps more importantly, are these bloody events a freak occurrence or a sign of something much more sinister at work?
As slasher films go, The Retreat delivers exactly what you’ve come for as a viewer. Right off the bat, Mills does a fantastic job of generating the delicious tension that makes a great slasher film. The stripped-down runtime helps a lot in this regard, as you’re plunged into the action right away without a lot of unnecessary beating around the bush.
Pirie and Allen also turn in terrific performances as Renee and Valerie. Both characters are strong, savvy women who are also vulnerable and relatable. You care about them enough to want them to survive everything what’s happening to them, and you hope they’ll find a way to work through their relationship troubles as well.
The Retreat also really works as a good LGBT film. The protagonists’ sexual orientation isn’t just thrown in there as a gimmick to make the movie seem worldlier than it is. It turns out to be a key plot element without which you wouldn’t have a film at all. Various scenes and occurrences address different aspects of the gay experience, including issues that are worthy of further consideration, such as the dangers of being gay and open instead of living life in the closet. The film also touches on ways these dangers differ for women as opposed to men.
Also, while The Retreat comes with plenty of gore and carnage to suit dedicated slasher fans, the way it’s all handled is noteworthy. The violence against the female characters isn’t sexualized, nor are the deaths, in general, over-sensationalized. The queer characters and LGBT culture are also treated incredibly respectfully from start to finish. In fact, this is a terrific film to add to your list if you’ve always longed to see more smart, capable female or queer characters in horror films, because The Retreat delivers.
