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Glue Trap, written and directed by Justin Geldzahler, has emerged in the film festival circuit this year. Despite not being a big fan of the horror genre, I decided to check this film out, and to my surprise, it felt more like a slow-burn thriller with a hint of gory elements.
Cinematography by Christopher Fox and editing by Norris Guncheon took me to the beautiful and quiet Blue Ridge mountains which I hope bodes well for the debate over climate change in the U.S. With the temperature in Texas exceeding 100 degrees, I truly appreciated the abrupt fall charm. The only things missing were hot cocoa, s’mores, and my flannel shirt.
Bradford has been dating Jay for an undisclosed amount of time. While enjoying an evening with friends, Jenn Ramsay and Jenn Shelton, a couple offers the use of their remote family cabin. (Is a cage on a website still something people use for marketing purposes, or is it just way overused?) KJ and Dan intend to use that time to reconnect with one another. To their surprise, a mouse on a glue trap greets them which allows for a debate between KJ and Dan Death to showcase how laundered their lives have become. While KJ heads outdoors to stroll through the woods, Dan finds an unfamiliar individual sitting on the cabin’s porch. Eliza has come to her family’s cabin to spend some time with her relatives. That question, “Which Jenn?” made me chuckle when I heard it. This marks the point where the narrative starts to be irregular.
True to life is Bradford’s strong independent woman: one who will do absolutely anything to avoid appearing vulnerable. I relate to her sense of disrespect when boundaries are violated, and the ‘what is going on here’ when one is being gaslit.
Jay introduces us to a contemporary almost hipster young man with a Stetson hat, shirt, and jeans. He is the more sensitive of the two and wants to be supportive of his girlfriend. He over-tries to get along with both women in the cabin and is somewhat passive-aggressive, missing some clues from Eliza that he probably should not have.
Bangiola is cheerful and upbeat or is she? This kind of character demands the appropriate degree of knowing how to balance just right. The balance was here, and it was one of the stronger parts of the film.
Hats off to the whole cast and crew for this incredible project. It looks like each of them was determined to make Geldzahler’s first feature film a ‘watch at your own risk’ film.
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