Film Review #74: COCAINE BEAR
Film Review #74: Cocaine Bear
*This film review may contain plot spoilers, reader discretion is advised.*
In 1985, drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton tossed about 34 kilograms of cocaine out of a plane into the wilderness of Tennessee. The consequences of such an action were beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. A 79-kilogram American black bear had found its way into the containers of cocaine, scarfing down large amounts of the drug before eventually dying of an overdose. Nicknamed the “Cocaine Bear”, the animal left behind a legacy that loosely inspired a multi-million dollar film known as Cocaine Bear (2023).
Image credit: Universal Pictures
The film follows an ensemble cast through the Chattahoochee-Oconee national forest where the drug-addled bear roams the forest. Each of them finds themselves in these woods for their own reasons – to skip school, to search for their missing children, to retrieve the missing psychedelic – all of which are intertwined with one another through the looming threat of an inebriated apex predator.
Although couched under the comedy-horror genre, Cocaine Bear will elicit more laughs than screams. Peppered with the use of jumpscares and thrills to exploit the typical predator-prey genre conventions between a bear and its victims, the efficacy of this trope is questionable. For more mature audiences, Cocaine Bear is like a walk in a bear-free park. It barely manages to make you jolt or feel like you’re on the edge of your seat. Because of this, anyone who goes into the cinema expecting a horror movie to the effect of Ridley Scott’s monster-horror cult classic Alien (1979) will be sorely disappointed.
What the film does have going is its terrific humour. Many of the jokes conceived by the indelible scriptwriter Jimmy Warden are bound to get a chuckle or two, but most of the laughs come naturally from the sheer absurdity of the premise. The idea of a coked-up bear going on a rampage to feed its drug addiction may not be the pinnacle of hilarity but it does sound comical. Besides that, the film also stylistically employs ludicrous over-the-top gore. If you can bear it (I had to make this joke), these scenes will be among some of the funniest in the movie.
Image credit: Universal Pictures
Sitting at a runtime of 95 minutes, Cocaine Bear is definitely much shorter than many of the other movies showing in theatres now. Despite this, the film makes the most out of the time it has. While the beginning can feel like a drag, taking the time to introduce us to a bunch of characters, the movie soon picks up as we get to see more and more of the titular Cocaine Bear. As the creature takes centre stage and the characters come to fear its presence, the film’s climax accelerates, making the narrative a rather exciting watch.
Truthfully, a large part of the film’s enjoyment and appeal owes to the Internet. Cocaine Bear is a movie that gained a cult-like status before its release. It finds itself in the more lighthearted corners of the web, where people come together and celebrate it for just how campy it is. However, this also means the film might not speak to people who don’t participate in such online fads. Persisting beyond the blind love that online communities have for the movie, the film is not without its pitfalls. The writing feels forcibly artificial as characters talk through what is very obviously expository dialogue. Some might even find the film tacky, as it often makes use of quick 5-second flashbacks to showcase character traits and off-screen moments instead of subtly weaving them into the script. Such instances of less-than-masterful filmmaking, however, do not take much away from the film, as most of the plot is still composed of electrifying action that provides a mighty dose of escapism.
Cocaine Bear delivers precisely what it promises – a bloody rampage of a black bear, high on drugs. This movie might not be for everyone, but if you love cheap thrills, exaggerated gore and silly one-liners, look no further. This might not be the next Oscar-winning production to grace the theatres but the movie is nothing short of fun. Boasting a short runtime and a simple yet absurdly hilarious plot, Cocaine Bear is a great movie for a night out with friends.
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This review is published as an extension of *SCAPE’s Film Critics Lab: A Writing Mentorship Programme organised by The Filmic Eye with support from the Singapore Film Society.
About the Author: Goh Kai En is a student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic studying Film, Sound and Video. An avid fan of local and animated films (especially the works of Studio Ghibli), he loves all forms of creative writing, and aspires to be a screenwriter someday.
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