PEAK SEASON– 4 STARS

When people form expressive bonds with each other, a combination of ideal circumstances is often met or even required. Proverbial existential lighting can strike with the right time and place for momentary joy. However, to move past mere serendipity to something more tangible, moods and personalities must align as well beyond the basic opportunities of the setting. The new independent film Peak Season sanguinely explores this notion of multiplying traits of connection.

New Yorkers Amy and Max (Vida TV star Claudia Restrepo and Ben Coleman of The End of Us) have arrived at a lavishly modern mansion rental near the Wilson and Jackson communities of Wyoming in the heart of the popular Teton mountain range. They are a well-off engaged couple looking to unwind while planning their Big Apple wedding. Max has brought the baggage, laptop, and earbuds of the office with him while Amy is somewhat between uninspiring jobs. Of the two, she is the one most dialed in for making the most of this tourist destination for R&R and the potential of a true romantic getaway. 

Enter Loren, played by short film director and occasional actor Derrick DeBlasis. Peak Season introduces him sleeping in his Jeep Cherokee with his loyal dog Dorothy. This shaggy, bearded, and dip-chewing dude gets by on a camp stove, a portable shower, and booze-laced coffee. He makes ends meet by giving seasonal skiing and fly fishing excursion lessons to rich tourists while working as a dishwasher at a restaurant. The plot and locale of Peak Season define Loren the vagabond as a “skid.” True to form, the label fits and its scruffy connotations.

Over dinner, George and Lydia (the always-incorrigible Fred Melamed of A Serious Man and The Heartbreak Kid’s Stephanie Courtney), two of Max’s rich snowbird relatives, recommend the young visitors hire Loren for a fly fishing session. On the same night, Max runs into an old flame, the ditzy fashionista named Fiona (Caroline Kwan of God Incorporated), whom he’s a little too chummy with. When Max ditches the fishing appointment the next morning to return to the office for a few days, Amy goes it alone and meets Loren.

LESSON #1: YOU CAN’T BEAT QUALITY TIME– Even though Amy and Loren couldn’t be more different in origins and goals, the two hit it off for the next few days in Peak Season. Loren’s wingman companionship at bars, bonfires, hiking trails, a rodeo night, and some sunny river tubing downing tallboy beers counts as a great improvement from the pushiness of Max and his latest selfish course of neglect in favor of results-orientated work. The quality time spent in the fresh outdoors enlivens Amy’s wearisome spirit bogged down by wedding preparations, and she doesn’t flinch at or initially besmirch Loren’s hermetic lifestyle.

This is where Peak Season leans wisely and heavily on the rustic terrain and refreshing flora of the Tetons. The powerful geography captured on camera provides an inspiring and lush scenic setting for anyone with a pulse outside of their own home, let alone the emotionally wayward Amy. Similar to the recent indie darling Dandelion borrowing the Black Hills region of South Dakota, frank scenes of walking-and-talking and little establishing shot inserts are made brighter and deeper by the stunning location shooting choices.

LESSON #2: MULTIPLYING CONNECTIONS– If you’ve been following these paragraphs, hopefully, you are checking off more and more boxes from that introduction on the ideal circumstances needed for establishing expressive bonds. Peak Season does its part to multiply the connections between two souls. It has a sweeping place that sets the mood and two open people with matching flutters of unity and engagement sharing good company. The big question after those pieces fall into place is whether what’s happening is platonic or romantic.

Underneath all of Peak Season’s natural grandeur is an existential simplicity spun by the two fetching leads. The scenarios and dialogue shared between Claudia Restrepo and Derrick DeBlasis play out in an unrushed and principled fashion. The kinship between Amy and Loren fleshes itself out sweetly and reverently. In different hands, the Peak Season narrative is a lusty paperback romance. Instead, a cooling and appreciable reality keenly replaces any preposterous whimsy or the temptation to ratchet up unearned or unnecessary torrid passion. 

Nevertheless, the gravity of Peak Season is strong enough in its genuineness and quaintness to still find the right Bridges of Madison County-esque climactic quandary. All of this patience and thoughtfulness was fostered by the filmmaking pair of Steven Kanter and Henry Loevner. In this, their sophomore feature after a career of short films and TV work, the duo pulled a Robert Rodriguez to do it all together, from the directing, writing, and producing to the editing, musical score, and camerawork. With a gorgeous effort like this, they instantly become a pair to watch climbing the industry ladder. Yet, even if they never made another film again after Peak Season, they would always have this appealing labor of love to stand proudly behind.