Writer and Director: Ethan Fuirst
Should Ethan Fuirst ever quit making movies, then he would have a very successful career as a stand-up comedian, as evidenced by his pre- and post-screening talks at this year’s BFI Flare, at which Fuirst’s film Can’t Go Over It receives its world premiere. He has the audience in stitches before the film begins, explaining how his low-budget camping movie was made by a crew of six and two actors who also camped while filming. Surprisingly, considering his exuberance, his film about a gay man going trekking with one of his oldest female friends is subtly restrained.
For years now, Caleb and Miller have spent a few days walking in the summer, and this year they plan to complete the 46 peaks of the Adirondack mountains in upper New York State. The film begins with them hoisting their heavy backpacks onto their backs from the boot of Miller’s car. But Miller is stony-faced, refusing to meet the eyes of Caleb, who seems in a strop. They’ve already had some kind of row, and they haven’t even started walking yet.
The tension and the silence persist the whole day; in a well-rehearsed scene, they even erect the tent as darkness falls without saying a word to each other. It’s not until they are safely under the canvas, headlamps firmly secured to their foreheads, that they broach the source of the argument. It appears that Caleb ducked out of the final pre-hike meeting when Miller was due to reveal the itinerary and the route that they would be taking. Miller is furious that Caleb has left all the details to her and is still not interested in looking at the itinerary. Caleb is seething that Miller has ignored him for most of the day.
At first, it seems as if all their treks have been full of such bickering, but Caleb remembers the times when they used to have fun. Now, they just march along the track, making up the miles, keeping to Miller’s tightly prepared schedule. Eyes forward, she walks without ever looking around at the scenery; he stumbles on behind her.
En route, they chat a little. While she once dated women, she’s now living with a man. Caleb is single but is thinking about trying to hook up with one of his exes, even though the original relationship was a disaster. Then they play word games, but mostly they just walk and fall into old routines. Each night, they take it in turns to place the bear canister containing their locked-up food 80 steps away from their tent, and it’s Caleb’s job to roll up the sleeping bags in the morning.
Nothing much happens in the 76-minute film, although Fuirst confides that plenty of scenes found their way onto the cutting room floor. But actors Susannah Perkins and Taylor Trensch bring such likability to their characters that we are happy to fall in step with them as they attempt to rekindle the good old days of the past. Mostly, they keep their feelings of bitterness to themselves until, in a smartly written section, the two friends exchange headlamps. Only then can they be honest.
For any hikers watching, many of their adventures will be familiar, and even those who don’t go walking in the woods will be able to recognise the struggles in keeping an old relationship alive.
BFI Flare runs from 18-29 March 2026.
