Weak Layer:  1: A Layer of snow in the snowpack prone to causing an avalanche

Party films can often be pretty funny and get people’s minds off of the real world. Animal House, The Hangover Franchise and Porky’s come to mind when it comes to great party films. Weak Layers is the latest party film. It is set during a sky movie competition. These three friends learn a lot about life and each other.

Cleo Brown (Katie Burell) who is also the writer and director, is a struggling twenty-something who lives with her two roommates Lucy Lin (Jadyn Wong) and Tina Gates (Chelsea Conwright). They like to party a lot because, duh, they’re young and hot. One is a sexual fiend and the other is an alcoholic. When they get thrown out of their home they have to come to the reality this life may be over. One last ditch effort of making a movie for a film competition called Hot Laps is their last chance at survival. 

In the male-dominated world of skiing and filmmaking, Cleo wants to make a name for herself as a filmmaker. The problem is a lot gets in her way. The competition ends up being a romantic fling as she and Sky Pro Gabe (Evan Jonigkiet) hit it off. This doesn’t derail her drive to make a great film though. Despite all the distractions and interpretations, she does what she sets out to do. Her own anxieties and misconceptions about the world she lives in get in her way. She has an enlightening moment. Life isn’t as easy as she thought but she needs to rely on her friends more and her instincts.

This film is set in a winter wonderland of Lake Tahoe which is synonymous with partying and debauchery. Drinking, doing drugs, and having sex are part of the way of life in this sky resort town. The problem is some people call this place home and have to eke out an existence there. That is the part of the film that does a swerve from the comedy aspects it starts as. These locations are filled with tourists but people have to run the businesses, make/serve the food, work the equipment, run and operate the hotel, and so forth. These are the real heroes of the world that are so vividly brought to life in the films made for the competition. 

One of the things about Weak Layers is its use of the three friends. They are very close to one another yet they have three distinct ways of thinking and living their lives. They enjoy each other’s company but one wants to be in sexual situations and the other likes to drink and get wasted while the third wants to succeed at something. They all have their separate coping mechanisms which take their minds off of the real-world situations they find themselves in. It’s a reminder life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for most people. The friendship between the three women is the heart of the film.

With the film being set in such a winter wonderland of a place like Lake Tahoe, California you have to capture the location to its full extent. The cinematography by Ryan De Franco is breathing, to say the least. I’m not much of a skier or into winter sports but the world that this film is set in is gorgeous.  The snickered mountains and vistas make a great backdrop for the dichotomy of the hard-partying young woman the story is centered around. I miss this world as I don’t live in the North anymore. It was fun for me growing up in a cold weather climate as a child. I’m not a fan of cold weather anymore though. 

Weak Layers has some good lessons to teach young people, and by young I mean college-age guys and girls. Life isn’t easy and as someone who used to drink and go out partying till all hours of the night, it takes a toll on you. and your body. As well as your mental state. I changed my life though and Katie Burell’s character knew she wanted something different for herself besides this lifestyle. As a writer and director, she did a competent job with the film. It’s an easy breezing 100 minutes long so it’s very digestible for most. This was a fun film and wasn’t trying to be anything more.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen