Polaris, directed by KC Carthew, is a chilling post-apocalyptic movie that will have its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Variety has released a new teaser for the movie that shows off the vast and genuinely horrifying arctic wilderness that is home to many savages and dangerous wild animals.
The movie is a deadly trek across the ice and snow that has been dubbed ‘Mad Max in the Arctic.’ It revolves on a lady, her adoptive polar bear mother, and their trip using the guiding star Polaris. This year, it holds the coveted leadoff position for Fantasia, and on July 14, it has a global debut.
The movie begins with Sumi (Viva Lee) rolling around in the snow with her mother, a polar bear, until Sumi climbs on her back and rides while Polaris glows in the sky above. It’s an incredibly moving and beautiful scene that briefly causes viewers to forget why this movie has been compared to Mad Max of all things. The brutality and action that one would anticipate from such a picture falls from there, though. As Sumi and the bear explore the Arctic, they stumble upon a group of people gathering firewood, but it soon becomes evident that they aren’t just doing it for survival. Sumi is pursued by them over the snow as a savage wearing a horned helmet.
Sumi gets to demonstrate what she learnt from her adoptive mother once she is arrested. She severs one of her captors’ throats and flees, setting off a pursuit scene that unmistakably begins to resemble the Geoge Miller series. However, these wastelanders prefer to use snowmobiles, sleds, and other vehicles adorned with animal heads and horns rather than fully armoured vehicles modified with various bits laying around. There is a lot of tension because Sumi has to outrun the savages’ hunting dogs in addition to them.
Alongside Lee, Polaris also stars Khamisa Wilsher and Muriel Dutil. According to Variety, the bear which Lee rides is named Agee and is the only professional acting polar bear in the film industry today. The cast is made entirely of female actors, including Agee, a decision Carthew made to properly convey the themes of eco-feminism she was trying to capture in the film.
Polaris is a Yukon-Quebec-Ontario co-production that was filmed in the country’s wilderness. It was created by Max Fraser and Carthew of Little Dipper Films Inc. in the Yukon, Paul Cadieux of Megafun Productions in Quebec, and Alyson Richards of Ontario-based Alyson Richards Productions. The Northwest Territories also provided funding for the project.