Dorothy may have been worried about ‘lions and tigers and bears,’ but even with a Wicked Witch and flying monkeys chasing her, she never faced anything as fierce as a bear high on coke. The story is inspired by true events, when in 1985, bricks of cocaine were inadvertently dropped over a national forest in Georgia.

Screenwriter Jimmy Warden takes that premise and imagines what would happen if a ferocious bear had ingested mass quantities of cocaine and then rampaged while on the ensuing high. Elizabeth Banks, known mostly for her acting (The Hunger Games), adds this to her growing list of directorial outings (Charlie’s Angels, Pitch Perfect 2), and her latest is sure to find a place in cinematic lore.

The film opens with a reenactment of the plane and parachute mishap that caused the drugs to end up in the forest. A crazed Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”) bonks his head on the skydiving exit, setting the stage for our bear to discover the scattered bricks of cocaine. Of course, as we know from so many movies, television shows, and national news reports when a drug delivery goes sideways, bears aren’t the only ones on the hunt. A local drug dealer played by Ray Liotta sends his son (Alden Ehrenreich, Solo: A Star Wars Story, 2018) and henchman (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) to retrieve the misplaced shipment with a detective (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) on their trail.

Looking-for-love Park Ranger Liz (the always great Margot Martindale) envisions a romantic hike with the Park inspector she fancies (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), but her plans are spoiled when a frantic mom (Keri Russell, “The Americans”) shows up looking for her missing daughter Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince, The Florida Project, 2017) and her child’s friend Henry (Christian Convery, “Sweet Tooth”), who skipped school to explore the park. While all this is occurring, there is also a band of thugs wreaking havoc on park visitors, one of which (Aaron Holliday) gets looped in with the drug dealers. Once EMS workers (Scott Seiss and Kahyun Kim) show up, peak bear intensity is reached.

Now all of this may sound somewhat normal for a movie set up, but nothing prepares you for a rampaging bear desperately seeking that next hit of cocaine. I don’t have the words to express just how ‘off the rails’ this thing goes (in a riotous and fun way). What I can tell you is that it’s the ultimate crowd-pleaser, and certainly the most effective movie I’ve ever watched featuring a drug-fueled apex predator.

I saw this in a crowded theater and the shared laughter and audience reactions definitely added to the entertainment experience. Key elements have been omitted here because this is one of the wildest rides I’ve ever had in a movie theater and my hope is that many other fun-seekers will agree. Not only is there humor, adventure, action, and violence, but there are also some brilliant ‘little touches’ that elevate the story (a cute dog, a double-cross, a broken heart, etc).

For almost fifty years, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) ruled the Midnight Movie circuit. There have been a few contenders along the way (The Room, The Warriors, Evil Dead), but this Elizabeth Banks movie may finally be the one that reignites the late-night movie crowd with this raucous, thrilling trip as a coked-up bear (a bear that looks fantastic) runs amok through a national forest, desperate for the next hit.

On a side note, this was the final film for Ray Liotta before he passed away in 2022. With a legacy of memorable characters in Something Wild, Goodfellas, and Field of Dreams, Liotta’s final scene is quite a gut punch. Cocaine Bear is a “hard R-rating” and not advisable for the 7- and 8-year-old kids brought along by their parents at the screening I attended.