Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Preservation’

Written by Scott Edwards 

Taking hunting trips with your family could be nothing new for many people. As my neighbor grabs his kids and heads out once every couple of months, it has become more a tradition than anything else. They all seem to come back in high spirits, even if they do not have a prize to present at the dinner table. Watching as the kids are growing up, I’ve noticed that one wants to keep it up, while the other is not very happy with the killing of an innocent animal. That's what leaving home and going to college does to some people.

Sean and Mike Neary are ready to get away from their lives and get up to the mountains for a little hunt. Mike even has a special guest along for the ride this time as he is able to convince his wife Wit to come with them. Although she is not really into eating meat, or killing anything innocent, she is a very competitive woman and will do anything she can to win. But there is something different about Wit on this trip as well, since she has a secret to tell her husband when they get some alone time.

Sean seems to be different himself, but Mike is not really paying any attention to it as the booze is flowing without an end in sight. When they finally reach their intended camp site, Sean seems to be preoccupied with Wit and when Mike takes another call from work, he stumbles upon something he does not want to see. Leaving it for the night, Wit and Mike go to bed in their tent, while Sean sleeps under the stars with his dog, but when the group wakes up, they are frightened as to what has happened to their camp site. With all of their gear and supplies taken in the night, Mike tries to blame his brother for some sort of prank, but Sean denies it whole heartedly. With his dog missing as well, Sean leads his brother and Wit back to their marker tree to find their way back to the car and heads off on his own to find out who is behind the actions at the camp site.

Preservation follows brothers Sean and Mike, along with Mike’s wife Wit as they have left the city to go on a little hunting excursion. While Mike’s cell phone is attached to his ear for most of the time, Sean gets to know his sister-in-law a little bit better, but before he can make his feelings felt, he finds that they are being targeted by somebody in the woods. With all of their supplies being taken in the dead of night, Sean heads off to find who is behind the prank and find his dog. But what he stumbles upon is something more serious than he could ever imagine. Being sliced in the stomach and knocked out of his hunting blind, time is short for him, and soon his brother Mike will find out what has happened. Being hunted by someone in the woods, Mike tries to keep Wit safe from the attackers, but time is short and there are more than one of the mystery attackers coming after the group. When Wit reaches the top of a peak and tries to call her husband, she finds out that she is the only one left and will have to do everything that she can to survive the onslaught.

This might not be one of the scariest movies I have ever seen, but it does make you wonder if these types of people exist in the world. The hunters seem to have a plan to take out the family that has intruded into their woods, but is it only a game to them? Wit is the strongest and maybe even the luckiest person in the group and is able to confront her attackers but seems to have a problem when wanting to pull the trigger. I really wish she was a little more aggressive earlier in the film to make her snapping that much more violent, but she did a fine job when needed. I liked how the story continued, as it never really seemed to let up, especially when the attacks started and I will admit that I was shocked by how the attackers used their down time, and how they prepared for their next advances against the Neary family. Stay Scared.

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