Sam, 12, is in trouble: his entire "Pathfinder" scout troop picks on him - and worse. The leader, Peter, is the worst of all. He seems to find a sadistic pleasure in humiliating Sam. This year's trip is to a woods near the French border where a curious legend named Kai is said, around the campfire, to make mischief. But when Sam finds that Kai is no legend and that he makes more than mischief, no one believes him.

Jonas Govaerts has bigger balls than any cub that I've ever seen (not that I take friendly peeks at the actual balls of any animals). However, he does share a few striking similarities with young carnivorous animals. Just as a young lion might show viciousness at an early age, Govaerts unleashes a fierce aim-straight-for-the- throat-mentality right off the bat with his directional debut. This fierce young director from Antwerp, Belgium, is as hungry as a bear looking to catch his or her very first fish, or a wolf on the hunt for a rabbit! The appropriately named Cub is a nasty, violent bear of a film that shows no mercy when it comes into contact with its prey. Whether it be on the characters that he, and Roel Mondelaers created, or the viewers who sit down to see his film, Govaerts relentlessly scratches, claws, and bites without any signs of ever letting up. Well, until his film eventually comes to an end, of course…

…But up until that point, Govaerts shows the ruthless aggression of a young cub, but does away with the inexperience that comes along with being new to the game. His debut film shows no youth from a production standpoint, nor does it give off the impression that this is the first time that he and Mondelaers wrote a major screenplay together. Not only does Cub benefit from a wonderful tension- building score that takes notes from the likes of John Carpenter and Dario Argento, but it also looks crisp and clear aesthetically, courtesy of drawing inspiration from the movies of Steven Spielberg. This demonstrates that Govaerts has learned from some of the very best to ever create horror on screen, and that he successfully did his homework by mastering the tricks of the trade early on. The screenplay itself brings me back to my original point about Govaerts having bigger balls than any cub that I've ever seen. Boundaries are broken, childhood innocence is lost, and the most innovative death traps that this horror fanatic has seen in years are on full display!

Before Cub played at the Toronto International Film Fest's Midnight Madness screening, Govaerts felt the need to warn animal lovers that they might have to leave the theater due to what happens to a dog in the film. He goes on to defend himself by claiming that he is a cat-lover! This is the same generous fellow who said okay to the slogan, "Buy a trap. Kill a cub", for his crowd-funding campaign. The cubs that that this slogan highlights are the human kind who attend summer camp. Animals, children, summer camp instructors, police officers…nobody is safe from the almighty balls located in the nether regions of this young director! A cool bit of information is that these clever filmmakers did not ask for crowd-funding for the purpose of funding the movie. They planned to put all the additional cash into creating awesome traps for our viewing pleasure. Have you ever seen a trap so cool that your palms suddenly felt the urge to slap each- other silly? It is uncontrollable. Do you believe that America's Saw movies are unbeatable? Think again!

A group of boy scouts venture into the woods with three adults and some additional fodder in the form of a few bullies and a police officer. Campfire tales reveal the legend of a feral child who roams the woods and it does not take long for the legend to become a reality. Little do the forest invaders know that this feral child is the least of their worries! A much more dangerous threat looms in the background waiting for the perfect chance to strike! The elements of a coming-of-age drama have intense sexual intercourse in a tent with the slasher genre and the result is Govaerts's Cub. This means that the cast is largely comprised of child actors, which very well could have been a recipe for disaster. The good news is that no bad apples exist in this batch. Govaerts picked his lead boy out of a music video and this kid shows acting talent capable of surprising anyone with doubts. Maurice Luijten is a future star in the making! The script has a heavy focus on his character to the point where it can almost be considered a character study and Luijten does not miss a beat in delivering the correct level of emotion to make the progression of his character believable.

Govaerts sets a new standard for modern-day slasher films with the release of Cub. It is a film that effectively pushes the limits far enough to get a shocked reaction from viewers, yet intelligently backs away from being unforgivably insulting (some awful things are insinuated, yet cleverly kept off-screen). These ballsy filmmakers attempt to give meaning to a sub-genre that has become over-run by maniacs who prey on hot, drunk, idiot teenagers. They offer a tragic story with a brutal pay-off instead! What is accomplished here is not the work of a cub…

…it is the work of a carnivorous predator ready to make his name prominent in the film industry for years to come.