Prince Avalanche 2013

In 1988, an unusual duo emerges as they venture away from the city: the contemplative and serious Alvin, alongside his girlfriend’s brother, the bumbling and insecure Lance. Together, they decide to spend their summer in isolation, tasked with repainting the worn traffic lines on a country highway devastated by wildfires. Amidst the breathtaking yet harsh landscape, they delve deep into their work and, through the process, uncover more about each other and their own limits than they initially bargained for. They have frequent run-ins with a reckless drunk truck driver.

During a weekend city trip taken by Lance, Alvin relishes his solitude, wandering through the nearby woods alone. It is here that he stumbles upon a house completely charred by the flames, where he meets a woman desperately sifting through the ashes for her pilot’s license, which adds a layer of poignancy to his solitary exploration.

Upon his return, Lance is visibly shaken and sporting a black eye, confessing that he was beaten up by the boyfriend of a woman he had been trying to impress. To complicate matters, he learns that his sister Madison, Alvin’s girlfriend, has sent him a Dear John letter. This leads to a heated phone argument between Alvin and Madison, revealing the strain of their long-distance relationship.

In the midst of their turmoil, the two seek comfort in each other’s company, sharing their burdens. Lance reveals that the root of his distress stems from the fact that a middle-aged woman he has been seeing is pregnant, throwing him into a spiral of anxiety regarding fatherhood and responsibility. Alvin reassures him, encouraging Lance to embrace this new chapter and expressing his belief that he will excel as a father. Their camaraderie deepens, and they humorously dub their duo “Alvinlance.”

In a poignant concluding scene, the two friends encounter the truck driver once more. Just then, Alvin spots the woman he met earlier getting into the truck, although the driver remains oblivious to her presence, leaving an unsettling air of mystery hanging over their summer’s end.