A fun-filled camping trip turns into a grueling struggle to survive in this independent thriller. Steph (Stephanie Richardson) is a fourteen-year-old girl who has been terrified of the water ever since the traumatic death of her father. However, Steph is persuaded by three of her friends -- Alysha (Alysha Aubin), Candice (Candice Mausner and Morgan (Morgan McCunn) -- to join them for an overnight canoe trip, with Jonah (Guy Yarkoni), Steph's older brother, serving as their guide. What starts as a playful trip down the river takes a sudden and unpleasant turn when an accident claims Jonah's life. Suddenly the four teenage girls are stranded in the wilderness, with no idea of where they are or how to get home; making the journey all the more perilous is Steph's insistence that they can't leave her brother's body behind. Produced and originally screened under the title Portage, Crooked Lake was the first feature film from the writing and directing team of Sascha Drews, Ezra Krybus and Matthew Miller.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide