Backtrack – Toronto After Dark 2015

A psychologist is haunted by ghosts leading him to an event from his past in Backtrack. Peter Bower (Adrien Brody) is an psychologist, who is still grieving the death of this daughter the year before, with his colleague Duncan Stewart (Sam Neill) encouraging him to get back on his feet. Peter finds out that he is being haunted by ghosts, all of whom seem connected to a tragic event from his childhood. Peter returns to his hometown of False Creek and, with the help of police officer Barbara Henning (Robin McLeavy), Peter tries to piece together why he is being tormented by these spirits.

Backtrack is a creepy and atmospheric Australian ghost story about this psychologist, who is literally being haunted by ghosts from his past. The film focuses primarily on the mystery of Peter trying to piece together his repressed memory of a tragic event from his childhood. Along with lead performance by Adrien Brody, who is trying his best to put on an Australian accent, Backtrack has notable supporting turns by Sam Neill and Robin McLeavy (The Loved Ones).

While Backtrack is a ghost story, I wouldn’t go as far an say that it is a full-on horror film, since the purpose of the ghosts is more to guide Peter along on his investigation. However, the film does feature a few successful jump scares and there is even one scene of the film, which looks like it was taken right out of The Grudge. While those looking for full-on terror might end up disappointed, Backtrack is still a very solid and often creepy ghost story mystery.