“Grizzly Night” Entertains and Informs

Grizzly Night (Burke Doeren, 2026) 3 out of 5 stars

Back in the 1960s, grizzly bears, and bears of any kind in fact, were not thought of as they are today. There were many notions about bears that turned out to be false that many hikers, campers, and even wildlife experts held to be true. Of course, back then, bear attacks were very rare.

However, in 1967, two fatal bear attacks happened on the same night in Glacier National Park in Montana. Our concept of bears would forever be changed following that fateful night. In director Burke Doeren’s Grizzly Night, the events of that horrific night, and the aftermath, are depicted to mostly intriguing results.

Grizzly Night tells the story of Joan Devereaux (Lauren Call), a rookie park ranger in charge of her first-ever overnight shift in Glacier. She is responsible for all of the guests residing at the park cabin, many of whom are actually there because they want to see bears. Sadly, the cabin is overbooked, and, as a result, some guests choose to sleep outside on the forest floor in their sleeping bags rather than stay on the packed cabin floor.

Throughout the night, multiple bear sightings turn to terror as an attack leaves one teenager maimed and another missing. Devereaux, along with trained surgeon Dr. John Lindberg (Oded Fehr, La Cocina) and a group of volunteers set out to assist the injured teen and find the other. Meanwhile, a group of teens nine miles away have another perilous encounter with a different grizzly.

Throughout the film, many outdated beliefs on bear behavior are presented that just don’t ring true anymore. “Aren’t bears scared of people?” one character asks. “Just climb a tree!” another exclaims. What we know about bears now was not commonly known back then, and director Doeren (making his feature debut) showcases these falsehoods prominently in Grizzly Night. It’s intriguing for the viewer to see these misguided concepts and how naïve hikers, and even national park police, were back then.

In that regard, the film functions as a kind of PSA on how not to react to bears. However, the film still has plenty to offer in terms of narrative. There are many characters, sometimes a tad too many, but each one is compelling enough to move the story forward and keep the viewer’s attention. I will point out that, for a film that supposedly takes place in the 1960s, the characters seem a bit too modern. I don’t fully buy that the verbiage and behavior displayed by these characters are reminiscent of the 1960s, but I will give props to the wardrobe department as the clothing worn by everyone is definitely of that time period.

The technical team does good work here, as well. The beautiful natural setting is captured with pleasing cinematography, the mountain peaks and endless rows of trees often seen from different perspectives throughout. The one area where I think a better job could have been done is in the bear designs. While the bears at first look promising in terms of realism, some of their movements and roars look unnatural.

The third act of Grizzly Night is its best, as tense situations lead to emotional moments, leaving the viewer questioning what they would do in such cases. Teamwork and collaboration are offered by some characters while others tuck and run at the sight of blood. Speaking of which, the effects team accomplishes some very graphic, realistic depictions of wounds that look quite impressive. The conclusion of the film offers some tough questions about bears and what human involvement with them should look like, leaving for a very thought-provoking ending.

While the majority of Grizzly Night is enjoyable and interesting, it falters in a few areas. In addition to some of the detriments I’ve already discussed, there are also a few poor performances that stand out and some horribly stupid decisions that characters make. However, that could just be further proof that people back then didn’t know what they were doing when it comes to bears.

Finally, for a creature feature about bears, we don’t actually see much in terms of characters either fighting, running from, or hiding from the bears. We see the first initial encounters, and then the film opts not to show what happens to those attacked, as we only get to see the aftermath. I think it would’ve helped the film to have more intensity if we spent a bit more time with the characters attacked when they are actively being attacked.

Overall, Grizzly Night is a fun-enough, surprisingly heartfelt film that outlines a very important night in U.S. National Park history. Most of the performances are quality, many of the characters are compelling, and the questions raised near the end of the film are sure to intrigue audiences. For what the movie is, I think the team behind Grizzly Night did well with this film and it is sure to entertain so long as expectations are reasonably tempered. If you go into this expecting an action-packed survival horror film, you will surely be disappointed. Just know, the film is more about its characters and the impact of the attacks carried out by the bears than the bears themselves, and I think that is to the film’s benefit.