The Mountain

Short-ass movie enjoyers, this one is for you. The Mountain runs a scant 73 minutes. I’m pretty sure this brief runtime is because the lead characters in the film are quite frankly, too well-adjusted to warrant any more time spent on them or their drama.

Lesbian couple Nora and Solveig are doing a multi-day hike to the top of a mountain. During the standard activities that make up this excursion, we see that the couple are at something of a disconnect. Additionally, Solveig is 3 months pregnant, another source of tension between them. Looming even larger than the mountain, is the couple’s memories of the loss of their child two years earlier.

The best decision the film makes is to take this domestic, personal drama and set it in a vast, outdoor location. That sets it apart from many other movies with similar themes. It also adds visual interest to the proceedings. Do you guys ever think about how majestic mountains are? Damn, they’re big. Anyway, back to the death of a child.

Obviously, The Mountain’s characters are dealing with grief. What happened to them is tragic. But I gotta say, they do seem to be handling it pretty well. When I started this movie, I assume The Mountain would be a narrative about a couple who does an activity together and it causes them to break up. That’s not what happens, despite the fact that their relationship issues run a lot deeper than differences in hiking opinions. Of course there’s a disconnect in their relationship after such a tragedy. And of course, both of them feel strongly about it. But like I said, these women are just too well-adjusted for this to amount to much. I mean, shit. In the depths of their grief, they plan and execute a multi-day couple’s hiking excursion. I couldn’t do that on my best day.

That’s really all I have to say about The Mountain. A short review for a short movie. The Mountain tells a human story without managing to fuck it up. But it also doesn’t exactly provide enough drama to make it a particularly engaging sit. Were it not for the titular mountain, this movie would have approximately nothing going for it. Not that it did anything bad, it’s just an unmemorable story due to the overall lack of drama. Anyway, it’s a fine movie. I won’t remember it in two weeks.

Overall rating: 5.4/10

Other WLW films in similar genres