From Jeremy Kibler

Queer indie cinema doesn’t get much more daring than it does with TLA release Birder. It’s not only sexually explicit (and really sexy) but provocative in what it says about control in a supposedly safe and consensual community where casual sex and cruising are to be expected. Director Nate Dushku (Eliza’s brother) makes his directorial debut, working from a script by Amnon Laurie, and while there’s a bit of borrowing from The Talented Mr. Ripely and 2013’s excellent Stranger by the Lake, this is a compulsively watchable simmer of a thriller.

From the film’s start, drifter and bird enthusiast Kristian Brooks (Michael Emery) is on a boat fishing with a slightly older man. Kristian gets the official motto of New Hampshire a little wrong (saying “Live free and die” rather than “Live free or die”), and something is a little off-center. It’s the Labor Day weekend, and Kristian is excited to see the loons on the water in the New Hampshire woods. He makes his way to queer, clothing-optional campground Lotus Cove, where he also seems to be the newbie. Just to name a few, there’s local drag queen Henley (Christopher Colon); three interchangeable publicists named Kyle; Mathew (David J. Cork) and his massage therapist partner James (Ryan Czerwonko); and Patrick (Cody Sloan) and his open partner Sam (Jes Davis). Welcomed in open arms (and open bums), Kristian becomes the toast of the woods, worming his way into this community. Did we mention this guy has a lust to kill?

Playing a demon in attractive human skin, Michael Emery is very persuasive and naturally charismatic. His Kristian is an enigma—whether it’s true or not, he was born and raised in Dallas, and he doesn’t drink—but a seductive one whom you can’t stop watching. Even though he is the protagonist we’re following, the closest we get to actually see a vulnerable honesty in Kristian is around a campfire under the influence of mushrooms. It’s the one time where Kristian isn’t in control, first asking if the micro-dose will change him. Then he gets personal with sensitive trans man Patrick (Cody Sloan), sharing his fears that no one will trust him because he’s never in the same place for long. “Tomorrow isn’t a sure thing,” he says, and the meaning becomes literal.

There is a sizable ensemble here, and while a few of them come and go without reason, many do stand out. Burlesque performer Delilah DuBois makes quite the impression as park ranger Delilah, as does Miles Crawford, as husband and father David who’s on a fishing trip with his family across the way. 

Constrained by budget but no less competently made and even beautifully shot, Birder conveys a lot under the surface. It’s amusing that there’s the mention of a few psychologists in the area (one of which is a homophobic hiker Kristian fantasizes about killing), but the film doesn’t offer any easy answers on why Kristian kills certain people and not others. Dushku and writer Laurie are secure enough in leaving motives to the imagination, and overall, the film does not always go where predicted. In fact, the ironic punchline of an ending will not be seen coming. A tantalizingly low-key thriller, Birder titillates but also buzzes along with a palpable danger.

Rating: 3.5/5

Birder is now on DVD, on demand, and digital 

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