By George & Josh Bate
Bonnie and Clyde’s swansong is uprooted when a third wheel enters the fray in the new SXSW premiere A Safe Distance, a tense, albeit fairly predictable, slow-burn thriller.
From director Gloria Mercer and screenwriter Aidan West, A Safe Distance follows Alex (Bethany Brown), a young woman who is stranded in the wilderness after a romantic getaway with her boyfriend (Chris McNally) turns sour. Alex is rescued by Kianna (Tandia Mercedes) and Matt (Cody Kearsley), an enigmatic young couple living off the grid as they harbor a dark secret. As Alex is drawn into the couple’s exhilarating relationship, she forms unexpected connections and complicated emotions but finds herself at a crossroads when she discovers the couple are fugitives wanted for a string of violent bank robberies.
A Safe Distance is a compelling, small-scale, contained thriller hindered only by the relative predictability of its narrative. The film begins with a flash forward that reveals the ultimate fates of two of our lead characters, a decision that, while imbuing the story with a degree of intensity early on, lessens its tension and subversiveness. In knowing what ultimately happens to these characters, the dramatic weight of every twist and turn in this winding thriller is depleted.
Problems with a forecastable narrative persist beyond issues caused by the unfortunately revelatory prologue. Alex and her boyfriend Joey are introduced as they drive into the wilderness while listening to a radio broadcast discussing a modern day Bonnie and Clyde on the run from authorities after committing a series of bank robberies. It doesn’t take a seasoned cinephile to quickly realize that the young couple Alex stumbles upon in the wilderness after Joey abandons her is indeed the duo of thieves. This flavor of expectedness rears its ugly head throughout the film as all the writing is on the wall for how Alex’s third-wheel role in Kianna and Matt’s relationship will pan out.
It’s a testament, however, to how compelling A Safe Distance is that its miscalculated predictability doesn’t entirely derail investment in the story and its characters. The isolated wilderness setting gives the film a juxtaposing unease and coziness, the perfect backdrop for the psychological back-and-forth that unfolds. A trio of strong, natural performances from Bethany Brown, Tandia Merces, and Cody Kearsley mean that each and every minute shift in the dynamics of their relationships feels organic and earned. Brown, in particular, excels in believably playing a character disillusioned by her boyfriend, who finds her curiosity peaked by a sexy, mysterious couple.
In opting to allow this Bonnie and Clyde + 1 relationship to evolve naturally, director Gloria Mercer and screenwriter Aidan West make the bold call to deliberately pace their film rather slowly. Coupled with the aforementioned predictability of its story, the slow pacing means that A Safe Distance drags at times. In turn, the injections of intensity and tension in the third act don’t hit as hard as intended as, by this point, the pacing has lulled the viewer into an overly calm, rather than edge-of-your-seat, disposition.
That being said, there’s something refreshing about a small-scale thriller that chooses to take its time. Viewers with little patience for such films will likely find A Safe Distance to be a rather tedious watch, but those who enjoy immersing themselves in an atmosphere brimming with tension and a story unraveling in a less frenetic and more calculated manner will be fascinated by what Mercer’s film has to offer.
VERDICT: 6.5/10
Premiering at SXSW 2026, the new Canadian thriller A Safe Distance is a compelling, small-scale, contained, and slow-burn thriller hindered only by the unfortunate predictability of its narrative. From a flash forward prologue that prematurely reveals the fates of two lead characters to screenwriting that makes nearly every twist and reveal foreseeable from a mile out, director Gloria Mercer’s film loses much of its tension and suspense. It’s a testament, however, to how compelling the film is that its miscalculated predictability doesn’t entirely derail proceedings. The wilderness setting juxtaposes unease and coziness, while a trio of natural performances ensure all of the winding turns in the relationship dynamics feel organic and earned. Viewers with little patience for slow-burn movies may find A Safe Distance to be a rather tedious watch, but there’s something undeniably refreshing about a more cerebral thriller that unfolds at a deliberate pace and focuses solely on the subtle shifts in relationships that have gargantuan effects.