In The Woods, the debut feature from writer-director Sarah Lyons, four inseparable besties reunite for one last hike before college graduation. What begins as a sentimental capstone to their coming-of-age quickly devolves into something more fraught, feral, and fatal. The film screens at Avalon Lounge in Catskill, courtesy of Sleepover Trading Company. Lyons will be present for a Q&A, possibly to explain why you should never follow your childhood memories into the forest without a map—or at least a working group chat. The premise is deceptively simple: Four friends retrace the hike that first bonded them in middle school. But this isn’t your standard reunion tour. Something is off in these woods. Cell phones glitch, compasses spin, and loyalties fracture. What was supposed to be a nostalgic romp becomes a psychological spiral, as the natural world begins to feel unnaturally sentient. Think Blair Witch with less screaming and more existential dread, or Stand by Me reimagined by a queer millennial Shirley Jackson.
