A pregnant restauranteur goes into the wilderness to acquire a rare truffle in Peppergrass. Eula Baek (Chantelle Han) has inherited a restaurant named “Peppergrass” from her grandfather and is in need of truffles in order to save her business during the pandemic. Along with her bartender Morris Weiss (Charles Boyland), Eula drives into the wilderness to the cabin of the reclusive truffle hunter Captain Reuben Lom (Michael Copeman), with the intention of stealing a rare white truffle. However, things quickly go awry and Eula finds herself alone in the wilderness, as she tries to get to safety.
Peppergrass is a wilderness-set thriller directed by Steven Garbas and Chantelle Han, the latter of whom also stars in the film as protagonist Eula Baek, a pregnant restauranteur, who desperately needs truffles to save her business. However, on their way to steal a rare truffle from the reclusive Reuben Lom, Eula and her cocaine-snorting bartender Morris Weiss are warned by a Fishmonger (Craig Porritt) that Reuben and his giant pet pig don’t take too kindly to strangers. Eula soon finds herself alone and on the run, but finds assistance from hunter Arthur Fulmine (Philip Williams).
Peppergrass is a film that is almost entirely dependent on the performance of co-director and lead Chantelle Han, whose character Eula is left to fend for herself after an attempt to steal a rare truffle goes horribly awry. For a “lost in the wilderness” thriller, I found that Peppergrass was a fine enough film with a few true moments of suspense that also takes advantage of its Central Ontario location. However, the fact that the film takes place predominantly at night does result in Peppergrass appearing too dark at times and I felt there was something missing from the film’s conclusion. However, Peppergrass is still a film worth checking out.
