‘Cocaine Bear’ is one of the biggest movies of the year, grossing over $80 million worldwide. Illustration by Mackenzie Jarvin.

Cocaine Bear begins with a plane flying high over the forests of Chattahoochee, Georgia. A man dances and maniacally dumps duffel bags of coke out of the emergency door, but not without mixing in a line. He nods his head as he puts on aviator sunglasses (it’s night). However, the party is short-lived as he hits his head, loses consciousness and freefalls to his death.

Those in pursuit of hot, delicious garbage (just like a black bear) – will likely adore the horror-comedy directed by Elizabeth Banks based loosely on real events.

The actual cocaine bear dates back to the 1980s, of course. In 1985, an ex-narcotics officer-turned-drug smuggler Andrew Thornton dropped about $2 million worth of cocaine from a plane mid-air over the Chattahoochee National Forest.

A 175-pound black bear got into one of the duffel bags of cocaine, consuming 40 plastic containers of the drug. The bear – eventually named Pablo Escobear – died of an overdose.

However, Cocaine Bear reimagines the story as if Miss Pablo lived and opted to go on a drug-induced murderous rampage.

Without a doubt, the bear (brought to life by motion capture and CGI) is the absolute star of this flick.

Keeleigh Nichols, a scary movie superfan, said she could not get enough of the coke fiend – and wished the bear had even more screen time.

“I think Cocaine Bear had a lot of different storylines going on, which made it hard to sympathize with any of the characters in particular… so, at times, I was rooting for the bear. When I am watching horror films or thrillers, I like to have the ability to enjoy the villain – Cocaine Bear lets you do that. I almost feel like the film didn’t have enough of the bear,” she said.

Inspired by slasher films of the 1980s, Cocaine Bear is rather gruesome most of the time – but it gives the audience exactly what was promised by its trailer… a bear high on cocaine.

Sofie Felber, a self-proclaimed horror fan and second-year Natural Resource Compliance (NRC) student at Lethbridge College, said Cocaine Bear exceeded her expectations.

“I thought the movie was way better than what I expected it to be. It is super fun, a bit gory and ridiculous,” Felber said.

The NRC student also applauded character actress Margo Martindale’s performance as the park ranger.

“[Martindale] had some great lines and delivery. It was fun to see the career I’m pursuing in a comedic way,” she said.

While the film injects a bit of sentimentality at times, the pacing slows down and the focus shifts from the action to the characters’ development – its flaws are not unbearable (yes, pun intended). Although it’s not perfect, Cocaine Bear is quite the high.