Out of Brooklyn Horror, Ryan Glover’s Split Rock digs into obsession, intrigue of the greater world, and how human beings fail to read the warning signs. Glover impressed with his previous feature, 2020’s The Strings, an essential queer horror film, and while his follow-up lives within that same realm, tonally, it neither hits the same emotional chords nor gets freaky enough. It’s aim to excavate a profound statement about exploration into the unknown sputters and runs out of fuel. There’s a trend bubbling in the indie horror circuit where filmmakers dress up their stories as slow-burns and save the best for the last 20 minutes. Maybe, it’s time for that to end.
Lauren (Clark Backo) and Ben (Drew Ray Tanner) meet up with Sam (Olivia Luccardi) and Trevor (Graham Verchere) to survey a mountain formation in the desert. The heat beats down upon their shoulders, adding to the stress of getting the project completed within a few days. Lauren and Ben share a past, and this trip might rekindle that long-dead romance. As they get to work, Lauren notices a bright light, as though someone is rotating a mirror in the sunlight as a call for help. But there’s more to it. There’s a frequency and a hypnotic quality to the light; it could be simply a mirage from heat stroke, or it’s a signal from another dimension.
Early on, Lauren becomes so entranced by whatever is out there in the wilderness that she freezes in place. The being, entity, or force acts like it wants to take over the human body, but Lauren can’t think long enough to put the pieces together. After seeing the stunning aura, Lauren also spies a man by the water with the shining beacon for a head. Glover mysteriously decorates the sci-fi/horror tale with a deep character study about the menacing nature of humans trying to conquer nature and bend it to our will. That exploitation runs like a fever dream throughout Split Rock, eventually leading to death for the group.
Ryan Glover certainly understands how to construct a towering Jenga game. He mixes The Hills Have Eyes, The Outwaters, and Something in the Dirt into an earthy, gritty concoction that doesn’t go down smooth. Split Rock attempts to capture the magic of those films, but it doesn’t get strange or mind-melting enough to warrant such exasperating teases. Third act elements hint that something wilder is coming, but it backs away from the edge just as it’s climaxing.
Despite The Strings, Glover blunders the story and plays it far too safe. In 2026, there are certainly ways of still delivering its message but with bigger, bolder risks that really sear into the brain. Split Rock does little to warrant its existence, outside of the strong performances across the board, and that’s just a bummer.
