Mercy Falls (2023) Review

Euthanasia comes from the Greek word euthanatos, meaning ‘easy death’. It’s also known as mercy killing, and Mercy Falls is a survival thriller built around the concept.

Despite its grim theme, Mercy Falls is engaging, with a drama-packed setup, a skilled cast, and high production values. Lauren Lyles (Outlander, Karen Pirie) is Rhona, the vocal leader of a quintet of college students on a weekend hiking trip. But the outing is a quest to find the deep woods cabin Rhona inherited from her estranged father. Rhona has only a vague map and some even cloudier childhood flashbacks.

Like a reality show cast, the group is rigged for conflict. Joining Rhona are her best friends, a mismatched couple. Scott (James Watterson) quotes Homer, while his flirty girlfriend Heather (Layla Kirk) is desperate for attention. She provides Rhona with a blind date for the weekend hike, ensuring an awkward situation. To make more sparks fly, Scott’s supremely annoying friend Andy (Eoin Sweeney), who specializes in crass innuendo, is invited along as a fifth wheel.

But you need a villain if you’re doing a thriller in the woods. Meet Carla (Nicolette McKeown), an ex-soldier hitchhiker who manipulates her way into the group over the objections of the uptight Rhona. But Carla serves a real purpose. She is military-trained, can fight, read maps, and has serious outdoor skills. The green college kids are novice hikers. Soon, Carla begins to erode Rhona’s leadership.

Better to flee from death than feel its grip.— Homer

Mercy Falls refers to waterfalls near the cabin site, a thematic location for this affair. Memories of witnessing or participating in euthanasia haunt both Rhona and Carla. An accident deep in the forest will set this twisted pair on an existential battle. Soon, the newbie hikers will no longer be worried about being lost in the woods. They are running for their lives from the murderous Carla.

Writers Meliá Grasska and Ryan Hendrick ensure plenty of tension throughout, and the pacing rarely lags. Hendrick also directs and intersperses the small cast drama with glossy nature scenes of the Scottish forest. Stephen Wright contributes an effective and often understated score.

Lyles and McKeown are well cast as hero and villain, opposites who really have much in common under the surface. Lyles transforms Rhona from an uptight control freak to a fierce opponent for the devious and skilled Carla. Sweeney is a pleasant diversion as the irascible Andy, who repeatedly crosses the line with sexual wordplay directed at his friend’s girlfriend.

The Homeric quotes seem out of place in this survival of the horniest college student drama. Rhona inexplicably busts out this grandiose quote as she readies for combat: “Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter.”

The Odyssey of these horny Homeric college kids may not be for everyone, but the demographic here is definitely young adult, and Mercy Falls succeeds in meeting its target.

You can read our interview with Mercy Falls Director Ryan Hendrick here: lovehorror.co.uk/horror-favourites-ryan-hendrick/

Movie Rating:

Mercy Falls trailer