Nerdly » ‘Grizzly Night’ Review

27th Jan2026

‘Grizzly Night’ Review

by Joel Harley

Stars: Lauren Call, Brec Bassinger, Jack Griffo, Charles Esten, Oded Fehr, Joel Johnstone, Josh Zuckerman, Matt Lintz, Ali Skovbye | Written by Bo Bean, Katrina Mathewson, Tanner Bean | Directed by Burke Doeren

Based on a true story dubbed the ‘night of the Grizzlies’ by many (and what a title that would have been, had author Jack Olsen not nabbed it first, for his take on the same tale), Grizzly Night pits a luckless gaggle of survivors against bloodthirsty bears in a remote wilderness.

Plucky rookie park ranger Joan Deveraux (Lauren Call) is thrust into the heart of it when two grizzly bear attacks occur in Glacier National Park, Montana. Rushing to the scene, Deveraux attempts to lead the survivors to safety before the beasts can strike again. Provided one doesn’t go in expecting the thrills and spills of Cocaine Bear, or the scares of Backcountry, there’s some value to be had in director Burke Doeren’s debut feature. Given its basis in reality (and one suspects less liberties were taken here than Elizabeth Banks and Jimmy Warden took with the aforementioned Cocaine Bear), it’s slower and more self-serious than one might have anticipated. Instead, the screenplay (by Katrina Mathewson, with Bo and Tanner Bean) focuses on the aftermath of the attacks, and the group’s attempts to flee before they too become bear chow.

Not exactly Jaws with a bear, then. Still, its animal attack sequences are undeniably effective, and the creatures look genuinely intimidating. Both are sparingly employed, ratcheting up the tension in a scene with a cute dog and in its alarmingly efficient opening sequence. While the murky visuals often give away Grizzly Night’s lower budget, this also helps contribute to the appropriately sombre mood and sense of impending doom.

If there’s a boo-boo, that settles in whenever the bears aren’t around. While the location setting looks great, Doeren’s direction falls flat during the quieter moments and lengthier conversation scenes. The supporting performances, too, feel out of sync with the rest of the film… and the 1967 setting. Pop in all the Jefferson Airplane references you like, but nothing can hide the iPhone faces of its younger cast members.

The Mummy star Oded Fehr puts in good work as the film’s overworked doctor, but the rest of the cast largely fail to sell the gravity of the situation, resulting in some wild swings in the film’s tone. As the film’s lead, Call does the best with what she has, but she’s ill-served by the writing and characterisation.

Grizzly Night may not be the film one had expected, but it does show promise in its grounded handling of a real-life tragedy. A solid take on the animal attacks subgenre, with an unfortunate tendency to get lost in the weeds more often than is entirely bearable.