Forest 779

Past and present, wilderness and civilisation collide in Forest 779, Steve Barnett’s sci-fi short in which a man of a different time comes into contact with a modern world that doesn’t understand him.

Frustrated lab worker Vicky (Faye Mead) is walking through the woods when she comes into contact with a mysterious dishevelled man (Dean Barnett) sharpening a deer antler. Speaking in a strange tongue, the man goes from threat to friend as Vicky offers him food. She takes him back to her laboratory where its owner Dr. Wu (Sidney Man) takes particular interest in the stranger. Vicky and researcher Derek (Lee Barnett) run tests and examine strange runes that reveal some of the stranger’s background, but duelling threats begin to emerge…

The small budget of Forest 779 means there is a homemade quality – for better and for worse. Steve Barnett’s ambitions are big, and to give his creation credit, it handles some of its sci-fi/fantasy elements well. The span of the forest is established well in the film’s opening overhead shots, and the laboratory that makes up much of the second half of the film is similarly well realised, convincing viewers of the struggles the Dragon Lab faces and why Dr. Wu would take such an interest in his startling new discovery. Costume design also excels with the forest dweller – his furs and leathers giving early hint to his true background.

However, the film creaks under its own narrative – with too many plot points raised and underexplored within the short to keep a comprehensive track of. Without spoilers, it is clear the film will be the first of a series that will presumably develop on some of these points further. However, the exploration within these opening 30 minutes does little to engage, with some baffling developments to get from A to B, not least the revelation around a phrase the mysterious man repeats that comes from the placement of a piece of paper. There is also bizarre dissonance between humorous scenes showing the Forest Man’s inability to connect to the modern world and a sinister backing soundtrack, which really throws off the tone of the film.

The performances of the cast are largely dull and uninspiring. Zero chemistry exists between Faye Mead’s Vicky and Dean Barnett’s forest-man, with hints of a romance best left on the drawing room floor. Sidney Man carries no threat whatsoever in an uninspired turn as the antagonist – his menace falling completely flat. Dean Barnett at least gives a solid turn as a savage man from another time, bringing physicality to his performance and maintaining a mysterious aura as he tries to learn how to communicate with the new world. Whilst one cannot expect total professionalism in grassroots filmmaking, there is a real lack of energy in the rest of the cast or real sense of drive in their characters.

Whilst there is much to admire in the production of Forest 779, it ultimately falls flat as an engaging story despite efforts to construct an ambitious sci-fi mystery. The forest sequences are its strongest, but failure to maintain a tone, poor performances from its cast and a hole-ridden plot spell its downfall.