In a Violent Nature is a 2024 Canadian slasher film written and directed by Chris Nash, and starring Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, and Lauren-Marie Taylor.

Described as an "ambient slasher",[4][5] it follows a mute killer who is accidentally resurrected from his grave in the Ontario wilderness by a group of teenagers, whom he then begins stalking and murdering.

[8][9] Opening on 1,426 screens, it marked IFC Films's widest theatrical release to date, and grossed $3 million in its first week.

[10][11] A group of friends - Kris, Colt, Troy, Evan, Ehren, Brodie, and Aurora, discover a locket hanging on the remains of a fire tower.

Decades prior, Johnny, the developmentally delayed son of a local merchant, was tricked into climbing the fire tower for a "bag of toys", only to find someone waiting at the top to scare him.

Johnny sets down his axe to pick up the keys, playing with an attached toy car keychain in a childlike manner, removing his mask and revealing his disfigured face.

Colt and Kris return shortly afterward, having found Ehren's body at the park ranger station, but flee at the sight of Johnny.

In an attempt to reassure Kris, the woman recounts how her brother, a game warden, survived a bear mauling in the same woods decades prior.

The woman notices that Kris's bleeding has worsened and stops the truck, insisting that she put a tourniquet around the injured leg.

Filming initially took place in the Kawartha Lakes area of Central Ontario, Canada, in 2021, but Nash later recalled that the locale "just felt like it wasn't hitting the right note for us".

[4] An outdoor promotional screening was held on New York City's Governors Island on May 18, 2024, with actors Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, and Lauren-Marie Taylor in attendance.

The website's consensus reads: "As single-mindedly focused on mayhem as its demonic monster, In a Violent Nature serves up a deliciously disgusting feast for gore aficionados.

"[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[21] Variety's Dennis Harvey wrote that the film's "stripped-down approach to a familiar gist has a distinctiveness that is impressive, and is sure to please fans who are always up for a new slasher film—but wish most of them weren't so interchangeable.

"[12] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times praised the film's "dreamlike" atmosphere, concluding: "Nash has attempted an ambitious blend of art house and slaughterhouse whose rug-pulling ending will polarize, even as its moody logic prevails.

"[22] Michael Gingold of Rue Morgue wrote that the film's style "isn't quite a reinvention of the form, but it creates a different and very effective kind of tension.

"[5] In a list published on June 20, 2024, Variety ranked In a Violent Nature the best horror film of the year thus far, with writer William Earl noting: "Amid the outrageous kills and crisp camerawork lies a sharp satire laced with empathy, beauty and genuine fear.