Van-dwelling or vanlife isn’t exactly a novel concept, but it does provide a unique setup for the new Tubi original movie Cabin Girl. Director Jon D. Wagner and screenwriters Leslie Beaumont and Rory James Wood conceived a crafty terror tale about an influencer living out of her van before eventually settling down in a remote cabin. Hence the movie’s title. As to be expected, everything soon goes to hell for the protagonist. The sort of malevolent force destroying her idyllic life, however, is unclear.
Ava (Rose Lane Sanfilippo) has lost both her parents and the desire to live a typical life. So, she does what a lot of directionless and flighty young people do in this story’s universe; they buy a van and hit the road. The decision quickly gains Ava a massive number of online followers, yet a sudden drop-off in vlog updates has everyone worried. They’re right to be because Ava has been involved in a car accident. Luckily for Ava, only a hapless deer was harmed that one fateful night. And apart from her fuzzy memory about the ordeal, the influencer is in one piece.
In the months after her accident, Ava purchases the cabin of both her dreams and soon-to-be nightmares. She’s only a bike ride away from the nearest smalltown, where she has since befriended a bartender (Jess Weixler) as well as caught the attention of the mechanic who found her and her van on the side of the road (Austin Scott). All seems good for Ava until the past — both hers and the town’s — comes back to haunt her.
Immediately the movie’s presentation doesn’t seem as plain-looking as other new indie-thrillers cropping up on Tubi these days. Visually speaking, it’s a small but significant step in the right direction. The director works in some crafty, nostalgic lighting reminiscent of The X-Files, and certain scarier moments channel “J-Horror” movies of yesteryear. While the variety of angles and shooting styles isn’t groundbreaking, it does elevate the appearance of Cabin Girl.
Cabin Girl is also less straightforward than its premise suggests. At first this seems like it could be a basic ghost story once Ava learns her new home was once occupied by a local witch. As the protagonist digs into the legend of the persecuted Hannah Granger, the movie introduces another plot about Ava having a stalker. The story bounces back and forth between phantoms and prowlers, subsequently giving viewers whiplash. With patience, though, everything eventually makes more sense.
As uninspired or off-putting as “influencer horror” can be, neither the perils of Ava’s attention-seeking lifestyle nor the adverse effects of curating a false persona online are the main focus of Cabin Girl. In fact, this movie ends up being more of a traditional psychological-horror movie than its contemporaries. Yes, influencing is important in the overall story, but the script also echoes the classic suspense works of Jimmy Sangster.
In place of overt and hackneyed commentary about digital influencers, Cabin Girl offers some loudly executed twists and turns. The movie ends up being a refreshing change of pace for both its own subgenre and Tubi’s original offerings.
Tales from the Paulside 
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