The Grey (2011)

Plot of The Grey: A bunch of oil workers, and one of their security guards are on their way by plane to Anchorage when it crashes, leaving seven of them alive in the wreckage. They find they are being predated by wolves and as a result they take off for the treeline led by Ottway, the safety guy. When one of them lags behind he is taken down by the wolves and it becomes evident that they are being hunted. They camp in the trees but one of the guys is attacked by a wolf, which is killed and eaten. Overnight one of them dies.  Later they are forced to shin across a chasm and one of them falls to the ground and is dragged away by the wolf pack. With only three of them carrying on one loses heart and gives up, the other two leaving him to die. But it is not all over.

Content: No sex or nudity. Some drinking in the opening scenes which takes place in a recreation area of the oil operation. Ottway, the guard, shoots a wolf which seems likely to attack. We see scenes of him with his wife who, we find, has died. Ottway considers suicide, after all he has the rifle. On the plane there is turbulence then the crash, seven of them finding they have survived, but there are bodies which are mutilated. Ottway helps another worker who is dying. Once the remainder take off towards the woods things get worse since they see wolves prowling about., mostly glowing eyes in the torchlight. There seems to be a leader which Ottway calls the Alpha male.  The group is gradually reduced until only Ottway remains, and he must face the wolf.

A View: I had heard of this film but did not get round to seeing it in the cinema, however it made a good impression on the critics, mostly because of its philosophical overtones, the survivors of the plane crash forced to confront the possibility that they might be going to die. Like some others I had some difficulties with Ottway’s decision to lead the survivors away from the crash site, after all they could have constructed a fortification, and the remains of the plane would have guided any search to them. But there would have been less of a story if he had done that. If you watch this you do feel the cold, distress and tension so worth a couple of hours of your time.

Fun Fact: Oil exploration companies do employ sharpshooters to guard their guys against polar bears in the far North.