I watched the indie comedy film Bear With Us, a low-budget movie. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but it’s here, and at least somebody tried something. Honestly, just being able to complete a film is something I respect.
The choices in this film are interesting. For one, it’s entirely in black and white—no color. I’m not sure why they made that choice. Shooting digitally is cheaper, and everything nowadays has color, right? You can film something on an iPhone, and it’ll be in color. So the black-and-white must’ve been an aesthetic decision. Maybe they were trying to nod to Kevin Smith’s Clerks—his first movie, not the sequels.
The plot follows a group of friends who go on a secluded vacation in the woods. You already know where this is going: they’re threatened by a bear picking them off one by one. But this is a comedy, not a horror, so it’s lampooning that old trope. The characters even reference Cabin in the Woods at the start of the film, joking about the possibility of dying in the woods.
What sets this movie apart is the twist: the bear isn’t real. Our protagonist has a plan to propose to his girlfriend by helping her confront her biggest fear—bears. He gets one of his friends to dress in a bear costume, planning to heroically “kill” the bear and propose. Naturally, everything goes horribly wrong. The movie becomes a comedy of errors from there. That’s as much as I’ll say—no spoilers, in case you want to watch it.
I found the film funny in spots. Not uproariously so, but it made me giggle. A warning: there are drugs in the movie (specifically cocaine, because of course there is), as well as violence. Sometimes it’s grizzly, unintended violence. The ideas in the film were okay, but this isn’t a polished production. Don’t expect Hollywood-level material.
The audio had some issues—not terrible, but noticeable. The acting could be wooden at times. But for an independent film, it was decent. I laughed, and there were some great visual gags and setups. With a bigger budget, this could’ve been much funnier, but I appreciate that this was someone’s dream project.
Making any film at all takes an immense amount of time, effort, and money. My hat’s off to them—it was time well spent. I don’t regret watching it. It’s not for everyone, but it made me laugh, and that’s what counts. 
