Institute History
Description
Fourteen-year-old David reluctantly travels from his comfortable Texas home to rural Montana for his annual visit with his brooding, off-the-grid father, Cal, who has planned the boy’s first big game hunt. As the pair ascends into the wilderness, Cal tries to connect with David by recounting the story of his own first kill, on his last hunting trip with his now long-dead father. After their trip is disrupted by a chance encounter with a grizzly bear, a wounded Cal realizes they must both rely on David’s strength and resilience to survive.
Big Sky–born co-writers and directors Alex and Andrew Smith (returning to the Festival for the first time since 2002’s The Slaughter Rule) exquisitely capture not only the awe-inspiring beauty of Montana’s landscape, but also the emotional realities of life isolated within it. Matt Bomer, as a steely father aching to be known by his son, delivers a searing performance, matched by teen actor Josh Wiggins’s impressive work as the stubborn boy striving to earn his father’s respect—and to save his life.