Directed by Burke Doeren in his feature directorial debut, Grizzly Night is based on the real-life ‘Night of the Grizzlies’ bear attacks that happened in Glacier National Park in 1967. Available on Digital and On Demand on January 30, 2026, through Saban Films, the film depicts the events that unfolded during the evening of August 12th and resulted in two fatal attacks, which occurred miles apart from each other.
At different campsites, visitors set up for the night ahead. Turned away from the park’s lodge, due to no available rooms left, Julie Helgeson (Brec Bassinger: 47 Meters Down: Uncaged 2019, Final Destination Bloodlines 2025) and her boyfriend Roy Ducat (Matt Lintz: The Walking Dead series, Ms. Marvel series) are forced to sleep under the stars. Soon, they are both attacked by a bear, but while Roy escapes, Julie is dragged into the forest. Miles away, Michele Koons (Ali Skovbye: Firefly Lane series, Whistle 2025) and her group of friends have set up their own camp. Later, when a bear approaches their camp, her friends climb to safety, but Michele is frozen with fear and dragged away again.
Meanwhile, rookie park ranger Joan Devereaux (Lauren Call: My Summer Prince 2016, We Love You Sally Carmichael! 2017) is trying to establish herself among her male colleagues as she seeks to reassure visitors amid growing panic over the attacks. As a result of the tragic events of that night, the first modern bear management policies were implemented, forever changing how wildlife conservation was handled.
Grizzly Night tells a faithful story, not overdramatizing events for the sake of it, and the bears are depicted as wild animals rather than movie monsters – all of which feels respectful of the fact that real-life people were involved and this really happened. With that in mind, the film has a heaviness and sobriety that make it a difficult watch. The audience knows terrible things are going to happen, and knowing the outcome makes it hard not to feel pretty despondent throughout. From a technical perspective, Grizzly Night does have the feel of a television movie rather than a theatrical one, and the 1960s setting is all but negligible. The actors are convincing, but Grizzly Night is very much focused on the attacks rather than the characters, so some audiences may feel they lack the empathy they would like.
Overall, Grizzly Night is a well-made movie for what it is. However, it is difficult to know exactly who this is made for. This is not a fun creature feature, and whilst it may be a Drama, its real-life origins are hard to shake – especially as the film does show people slowly dying. A solid debut from Doeren, Cryptic Rock gives Grizzly Night 3 out of 5 stars.
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