GENRE | Staying 'A Safe Distance' Away x SXSW 2026

"Would you like to take a ride on my time machine?"

SXSW Film & TV Festival

A Safe Distance, SFU Film alumnus Gloria Mercer's debut feature-length film, stars local actor Bethany Brown as a woman stranded in the woods by her petulant boyfriend (Chris McNally) after she rebuffs his marriage proposal while on an anniversary camping trip in rural British Columbia, who then becomes both emotionally and criminally entangled with an attractive but dangerous bank-robbing couple (Tandia Mercedes and Cody Kearsley).

Fellow SFU Film graduate Aidan West's script lets audiences get to know the two couples slowly and deliberately. Told in segments with the exposition unfolding naturally, we get a sense of the internal struggle of our characters before they make rash decisions they cannot undo. It's a captivating setup that pulls off its entanglement rather impressively, with Brown and Mercedes' elusive performances carrying the emotional action of the film deftly.

Mercer directs the tense but sexy feminist crime thriller with an assured hand so as not to give away any of the unexpected turns or motivations. It's a clever Canadian indie genre movie mashup with enough Bonnie and Clyde flavour to its wildness drama that takes influences from the current trend of true-crime thrillers. It's a fun but captivating ride that speaks to the toxicity of many heterosexual relationships while teasing an intriguing bisexual sense of danger and excitement.

A Safe Distance premiered at the 2026 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival (Austin, Texas) as part of the Narrative Spotlight section.


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