By Joel Harley

Loosely based on the true story of a bear that ate a bag of cocaine, it’s director Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear! But, with the real-life bear having died almost immediately from its drugs supper, the word ‘loosely’ is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here.

After foraging its way into a bag of cocaine, an amped-up black bear rampages its way across an idyllic Georgia forest. Caught in its path, a rag-tag collection of criminals, tourists, cops and truant kids attempt to survive. What more do you need to know?

Following a riotous opening sequence, Banks and writer Jimmy Warden slowly reveal the absurdist sense of humour that drives this comedy-horror hybrid. As missing kids Dee Dee and Henry (Brooklynn Prince and Christian Convery) tuck into a knife-full of cocaine each (drugs are bad, mmkay?) Banks and Warden don’t attempt to disguise how ill-fitting that ‘loosely based’ really is.

While the purposefully peculiar dialogue and stop-again-start-again action may frustrate, there’s much fun to be had in this bloody bear rampage – and that’s just the humans.

Any lull in the action is filled with snappy interplay between its talented cast – including character actress Margo Martindale, Keri Russell, Isaiah Whitlock Jr., and the late, great Ray Liotta. Somehow, Solo star Alden Ehrenreich manages to hold his own against these legends, getting all the best lines – and laughs – as depressed thug Eddie.

At its best, Cocaine Bear showcases a surprisingly savage wit – an ambulance chase being the film’s highlight, ripped straight out of the Final Destination 2 playbook, and given a Wet Hot American Summer overhaul.

Although the film never gets to be that fun or funny again (and it’s disappointing that it should plunge into a gloomy old cave after that), its charm carries through, more than enough for this Cocaine Bear to go out on a high.

Cocaine Bear is out now in UK cinemas.