Cocaine Bear may not have been praised from the box office, receiving a 70 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes to be exact, but I give it a round of applause. The movie has many mixed reviews, but in my opinion, it wasn’t a complete waste of time. It has violence, comedic relief, romance, and is overall very captivating.  The movie could be very predictable at times but there are still plenty of surprises throughout. There were many plot points that could have been explored more and the cocaine never really strayed from the bear, but regarding murder, conspiracies, and parental love, this movie succeeded.

The movie is set in a forest of Georgia in 1985, the scenery of the movie alone made it worth the watch. For one hour and thirty-five minutes, viewers are taken through the forest from the perspectives of multiple groups of people. As the movie begins, viewers are informed that it is based on a true story, that of the 175 pound bear known as Pablo Escobear, that fatally overdosed on cocaine in a forest in Tennessee. With this in mind, the amount of cocaine that the bear in the movie ingested was unfathomable and while the entire movie was silly and far fetched, it was just too much. Throughout the movie I kept thinking this has to be it, this line has to take her out, but Cocaine Bear went strong until the end, surviving massive amounts of cocaine and multiple gunshot wounds. This movie gave me the typical feelings any horror movie would. Many of the characters were destined to die because of their pure stupidity.

Dee Dee kicks the journey off for her mother and friend Henry off by ditching school and heading to the forest to paint. The kids join the bear and eat cocaine after learning about what is during school and despite the warnings and seeing “this is your brain on drugs.” The park ranger was very entertaining, she and her love interest don’t last long, and sadly she never makes it up the ranks to her dream job at Yellowstone. Syd White, renowned drug dealer, lands himself in the forest after his incompetent henchman and son fail to recover his product, leading to his eventual demise when he picks said product over his son and grandson.. The characters who make it, and those who don’t just go to show that life isn’t fair, especially when you have to deal with a 500 pound bear on coke.