Gerry is a 2002 film directed by Gus Van Sant, starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who also co-wrote the film with Van Sant. It is the first film of Van Sant's "Death Trilogy", three films based on deaths that occurred in real life, and is succeeded by Elephant and Last Days. Gerry is about two hiking companions who both go by the name "Gerry". "Gerry" is also a slang term used throughout the misadventure by both protagonists, meaning "to screw up". Van Sant revealed in interviews that Damon and Ben and Casey Affleck already had used the term before the movie had been named. The plot of... the film shares some commonalities with the events surrounding the death of David Coughlin, who was killed by his friend after the two became lost in Rattlesnake Canyon in New Mexico. The characters drive to a remote location to hike at a site marked "Wilderness Trail". As they start, they see some other hikers passing by. After some walking, talking, and an impromptu foot race, they decide to head back. Before long, they realize that they are lost. That night, they build a campfire. Over the next couple of days, the two hikers wander through the wilderness without food or water.
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