A piece of Maine woodlands lore comes to the screen in “Lost on a Mountain in Maine,” a sturdy indie retelling of the story of a boy battling long odds against his survival in the dense woods and ever-changing weather of Mount Katahdin.

First-time feature director Andrew Boodhoo Kightlinger wisely chose “docudrama” as the best way to tell this timeworn tale. As a good cast of lesser-known but skilled players act-out the events of long ago, we see snippets of archival interviews with many of those involved when twelve year-old Donn Fendler went missing on a summer hike. That not only underscores the “true story” nature of this survival saga, it immerses us in just how unlikely this all was, and how it transfixed Maine and the nation.

In late Depression/pre-war 1939, dad Donald Fendler (Paul Sparks) spends most of his time on the road for business. But at least his twin sons Donn (Luke David Blumm), Ryan (Griffin Wallace Henkel) and youngest Tommy (Mason Cufari) can look forward to a mid-summer fishing trip.

Until Dad gets news that will shorten this July vacation. An overnight hike to Mount Katahdin is all he has time for. Donn, the hotheaded, rebellious and unpolished twin, takes this news hard. But one night of campfire stories will have to do.

When a cold front moves in halfway into their hike, their father calls it off. Donn isn’t hearing it.

“You want us to be men? Let us be men!”

Dad is a hardcase whose tough love has a dose of “The world’s not going to give them a break. Neither should I.” He sizes up his fuming tween and lets the twins and their guide (Ethan Slater) carry on.

No, “we’re not dressed for this kind of weather.” And the family favorite, brother Ryan may be eager to turn back. But Dad figures they’ll learn lessons about over-confidence and acting-out, if nothing else.

Lightning above the treeline sends the kids into a panic, and as the fog shrouds everything and rain pounds down, defiant Donn gets separated. With temperatures falling and the kid in sneakers and short sleeves, Dad scrambles to get help and puts-off making that call home as long as possible.

“I’ve lost one of our boys.”

True story or not, the narrative here is utterly conventional, with the novelty of this tale largely coming from the period it’s set in. Donn will be sorely tested and called on to remember what his father taught his sons about the woods. He’ll stumble, make mistakes, struggle to deal with insects, heat and injuries and even hallucinate the Penobscot Indian thunder god of the mountain, Pamola at one point.

And Maine and eventually much of America will be transfixed by the story of the missing child and the frantic efforts to find him.

I like the way the film highlights the father’s shame and sense of responsibility for this situation. “Boardwalk Empire” and “House of Cards” alumus Sparks lets us see this in the man’s eyes and slumped shoulders as he stands behind the rangers who send volunteers into the woods.

There’s a stoicism to mother Ruth’s (Caitlin Fitzgerald) response to this, almost as if she saw it coming. When tragedy strikes, she responds the way we’d expect a Depression Era mother to — by going around the men to take charge of a vital part of this search.

Young Blumm, of “Where the Crawdads Sing” and “The King of Staten Island,” manages a moving child actor star turn in the lead role, a defiant kid who misses some ready solutions in his increasingly fraught efforts to “work the problem,” but who remembers just enough of his father’s lessons to “Press on.”

And director Kightlinger leans on those archival interviews to add gravitas to a story that doesn’t surprise, but that almost never serves up a moment that doesn’t move or ring true.

Rating: PG for thematic elements, peril, profanity and some injury images.

Cast: Luke David Blumm, Paul Sparks, Griffin Wallace Henkel, Ethan Slater and Caitlin Fitzgerald.

Credits: Directed by Andrew Boodhoo Kightlinger, scripted by Luke Paradise, based on a memoir by Donn Fendler and Joseph B. Egan. A Blue Fox release.

Running time: 1:38