A struggling tourist hires two wannabe tour guides to take her to an active volcano.
Sometimes fire cleanses things, to turn the past into ash, nothing but a burned forgotten memory. “Stoke” is set in the near ever-present dystopia filled with threats of environmental collapse. Jane (Caitlin Holcombe) is recovering after the loss of her boyfriend, mournfully surrounded by reminders of him. Her cavalier friend Maggie (Kimee Balmilero) is encouraging her to make a drastic change, whether it’s therapy to get “unsad” or maybe even travel to South America for an Ayahuasca psychedelic trip. When Jane hears on the news that there’s a report of an active volcano in Hawaii spouting molten lava into the Pacific, she decides to head there. Lava might be the only element able to erase the past.
After arriving on the Big Island, she immediately meets two fledgling tour guides named Dusty (Kauhane Lopes) and Pohaku (Randall Galius Jr.). They charge a fair price and seem to know their way around. The drive is about 3 hours long, followed by an 8-mile hike. The two charmingly silly guides give some natural exposition about the active volcano and their dialogue is pretty enjoyable. I really enjoyed one line in particular when Pohaku learns Jane’s profession and proclaims, “a litigator is the most dangerous reptile.” They have some very relevant conversations like which is a worse fate, freezing to death or being burned alive.
On their way to the volcano, they stop at a B, B & B (Bed, Bud, and Breakfast). It’s a quaint sanctuary with a beautiful garden and some sticky weed. The owner is a Reiki practicing Buddhist and is curious why Jane has chosen this island over all the others. They have a nice conversation and she continues on her ideal road trip with Dusty and Pohaku. Things take a turn when a large white limo crosses their path. A large man in a bear suit with a petite woman dressed in a bunny outfit in tow proceeds to rob the hapless trio, most frustratingly with an empty gun. It’s a weird surreal moment that slightly took me out of the movie’s groove. There are some necessary character insights and the story, for the most part, continues to stay interesting.
For such a short film there’s a fair amount of development and patience for scenes to breathe and nothing feels rushed. The score is solid with original composition and some traditional Hawaiin folk songs. Zoe Eisenberg and Phillips Payson co-direct and the pair seem to be very in sync with their vision and execution. They make great use of aerial shots capturing the endless untouched Hawaiian beauty. I’m curious to see what they’ll create next. Although it’s a little rough around the edges, I enjoyed it.
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