By Dan Skip Allen

(A phone is not supposed to be used on the trail.)

There are a lot of different kinds of subgenres of cinema, and one of those is roadtrip movies, and part of that genre is walking dramas. Where two or more characters take a walk to cleanse themselves of their past or find themselves again. “The North” is one of those types of movies. It’s very similar in tone to “The Way”, “A Walk in the Woods” and “Wild”. All films where characters take a journey for some specific reason or another. They are all good movies, and so is this one. These kinds of films allow for a lot of character development, and there is a lot of that here.

Chris (Bart Harder) and Luis (Carlos Pulido) are two estranged friends who decide to go for a walk on the West Highlands Way. A 600-kilometer hike through the Scottish Highlands to rekindle their friendship once again. Along the way, they talk to each other about what’s going on in their lives. They get emotional about why they grew apart from one another. Their vulnerability towards one another causes issues, and at one point of the journey, they separate to be away from the other one. There are secrets being held and each other as well. This causes drama. 

One of the most noticeable things about this film is its cinematography. Twan Peters captured every inch of the locations where this film was shot. If it was indeed the Scottish Highlands where the film was shot, then it looked absolutely gorgeous on screen. From the mountains to the streams, from the ocean to the lush green hills and everything in between was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. The green hills of Scotland jumped off the screen, but it wasn’t just that that looked great. The sunrises and sunsets looked great as well. Far away shots of the actors gave a phenomenal look at all of this country’s beauty. It’s one of the best-looking films I’ve seen all year.

There is a mantra about those that take this hike, and that is, you shouldn’t have a phone and just enjoy the journey. A woman named Emma (Grainne Blumenthal) has a phone, and eventually, so does one of the two main characters, but he tries to hide it from the other man until it rings at the wrong time and he’s caught. Having a phone takes the communication aspect of the trip away from the second man. The point of the trip was for them to connect again and having a phone distracted from that. That’s where some of the animosity between the pair came from. That’s why a portion of the trip is very tense.

A big twist in the film is a secret that one of the characters  holds against the other one. This secret creates a rift between the duo because of how much they care for one another. That care was the biggest problem between the pair. One wanted the other to show more emotion, and the other one wanted to keep his distance regarding his privacy. With any relationship, friendship, or otherwise, you have your ups and downs. That’s what these two had in the context of this movie. There are at least a few of those in the course of this film, which made it more interesting, to say the least.

“The North” is a movie that takes the viewers on a journey along with the two made characters.The gorgeous backdrop of the Scottish Highlands came vividly to life. Every piece of landscape was shot to perfection from the mountains to the ocean and every other part of this land. The two main actors in the film, Harder and Pulido, both did a terrific job of making their friendship and relationship come across so well on screen. These are two actors I haven’t seen before, but I cared about both of their characters within the context of the story. These kinds of movies work on a lot of levels because of the journey. I loved how the drama was able to unfold as they walked along this path. That’s the crux of this story and why it worked so well.

3 ½ stars