Rust Creek is a 2018 film directed by Jen McGowan.The story follows a woman, Sawyer Scott, who is attacked by two men after losing track in the woods. It is a survival thriller that barely manages to attain the survival genre. The film is a result of the right ingredients but in the wrong quantities. Let’s explore the story and ending of Rust Creek in detail.
Plot Summary
Sawyer Scott gets a call for a job and sets out in her car. However, she loses track midway in the woods. Things get worse when two guys, Hollister and Buck, jump on her. But she manages to escape. After spending two nights in the forest, she is rescued by Lowell, who lives alone. Lowell works with Hollister, his cousin, and Buck to cook and deliver meth. The sheriff, O’Doyle, is also involved in this. Meanwhile, the state department has already begun searching for Sawyer, something that O’Doyle doesn’t want. So, to make sure that the girl isn’t rescued, O’Doyle tasks Hollister and Buck to find and kill her.
Lowell, on the other hand, keeps Sawyer safe in his trailer, hidden. But to their dismay, Hollister and Buck find out. What follows is a verbal scuffle between Lowell and Hollister that ends with a “blast.” Sawyer manages to escape while Buck, Lowell, and Hollister die (in that order). Buck dies in the blast, and Lowell and Hollister are shot by O’Doyle, who doesn’t want to leave any kind of evidence. In the end, O’Doyle manages to catch up with Sawyer, who doesn’t know him. At the end of the movie, O’Doyle tries to drown her too, but she stabs and kills him, thus ending her experience at Rust Creek.
‘Rust Creek’ Ending Explained
The ending of Rust Creek has a lot to do with our main character Sawyer. The film’s very last scene shows Sawyer walking down a street in the woods with multiple cop cars behind her. Yet, she does not react to them in any way. She doesn’t cry for help or stop them or get inside one of the cars. She keeps on walking. This has more than meets the eye.
At the very beginning of the film, we see Sawyer sprinting. She is into sprinting. So, one can say that her faith rests upon her feet. And this is something we get to experience till the very end of the film. From her coming out of the car to check the map to escaping from Hollister and Buck to surviving in the woods to standing by the river to her very escape, the only thing that keeps her going is her feet. Another thing that stresses this point is how she, time and again, checks both her feet, especially the stab wound in her right thigh. She cleans the wound and ties a tourniquet multiple times to ensure that there’s as less blood loss as possible.
Sawyer constantly muttered to herself that “Everything’s fine,” to help her keep going. For some, it may seem like reassurance. For others, it may be utter optimism. Herein, the latter half of people can see themselves winning as luck runs out for Sawyer time and again. But it’s how she manages to come out of each of the situations that make her reassurance much more pleasing. However, the situations do take a toll on her. So much so that by the end of the movie, she doesn’t even need help, something that she was looking for throughout but didn’t get. She seems to be indifferent to help, taking refuge in her own abilities no matter where they lead her.
Rust Creek portrays a person’s struggle to survive in a dark tunnel, with the hope of finding the light. However, the dark envelops the person to such an extent that he or she turns indifferent to light even when it is clearly visible. It is so bright that it is blinding.
Rust Creek is a 2018 Crime Thriller film directed by Jen McGowan.
