Summary

• In A Violent Nature is a unique and fresh take on the slasher genre, deconstructing its tropes with its unique storytelling perspective.
• The film uses third-person and wide-angle shots to create a feeling of detachment from the violence that its undead killer Johnny inflicts.
• The visceral kills in the movie are gut-churning, making it hard to look away from the experiment that lures viewers into a trance.

The slasher formula is a tried-and-true horror blueprint and, try as one might, it's difficult to shake that up decades after the genre was first popularized. Writer and director Chris Nash's In A Violent Nature may be the first slasher in a long time to truly deconstruct the genre in a way that feels surprising, even if the results of its experiment are mixed.

Described as an "ambient slasher," the movie follows undead killer Johnny in the third person for most of its runtime, allowing audiences to stalk his unsuspecting victims alongside him. It can be a tedious exercise, especially as you wait for the murders to ramp up, but In A Violent Nature uses its form to ratchet up the tension so that you're looking for Johnny in the corner of every frame by the end of the film.

In A Violent Nature begins with Johnny quite literally rising from the dead, awoken by three unsuspecting campers who have taken a locket from his resting place, a collapsed fire tower somewhere deep in the woods. These campers — the young, dumb, fun-loving subjects of many a slasher — aren't important here, though. It's Johnny we follow through the woods as he searches for his stolen locket. Through snippets of dialogue overheard by Johnny, In A Violent Nature fleshes out its mythology, but it feels different as we observe things through his eyes.

In A Violent Nature Asks Its Audience To Sit With Evil

When not filmed in the third person, In A Violent Nature often uses static wide shots — of a lake, a solo cliffside yoga session, the back porch of a dimly lit cabin — to build dread that often explodes into violence. By making the audience see the events through Johnny's eyes, we feel unmoored from any grounding force that slashers so often give us. There are no characters to grow attached to, no environment to become familiar with. Jonny is constantly on the hunt, looking for the locket and murdering anyone in his way.

The third-person and wide-angle shots create a feeling of detachment from the violence, serving as an indictment of the genre and as a way for us to process the horrors we are witnessing.

Sitting with an evil like this makes for an uncomfortable experience, especially as Nash's camera pans over gorgeous landscapes. At one point, Johnny walks into a blazing red sunset, and it's a gorgeous shot, but the blood-red sky merely serves as a reminder of the hellfire he's about to rain down on more unsuspecting victims. The third-person and wide-angle shots create a feeling of detachment from the violence, serving as an indictment of the genre and as a way to process the horrors we are witnessing.

In A Violent Nature Holds Nothing Back

In A Violent Nature is Nash's first directorial feature, but he's worked on numerous shorts both as director and in special effects, a skill that shines in the movie. The kills are visceral and, in a few cases, Nash eschews the film's established style for an up-close-and-personal look at Johnny's victims. One particular spine-crunching kill is so gut-churning that it may have even the most seasoned gore-lovers cringing and turning away from the screen.

Somehow, though, it's hard to look away. In A Violent Nature's experiment is alluring, lulling you into a trance as you follow Johnny's methodical quest to retrieve his locket. It often falls into the trappings of the genre, but this is all by design. Nash uses these tropes to show how different they look from a fresh perspective, a deconstruction of a genre that has struggled to come up with new formulas.

In A Violent Nature doesn't re-invent the wheel, and its experiment doesn't always work. Oftentimes, I felt myself longing for something to connect to beyond the supernatural killer that dominates the frame, but even this feels meant to rattle, the emptiness of evil boldly staring back from the screen.

In A Violent Nature premiered in the Midnight section at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It will be released by Shudder.