Review by Geoff Jenke
When was the last time you watched a movie with only 6 actors in it (well 9, if you count a couple who are only on screen for less than 5 minutes) and no special effects used? Despite being an “end of the world” movie, this is the one.
Right from the start, it is obvious things are not well with the world. It appears a disease is consuming the world. Paul (Joel Edgerton) and his family are living out in the woods, keeping to themselves, trying to survive on their own. He decides to take in another family who are not affected by the disease, thinking they will be better off. Soon there is distrust and tension amongst the families.
The movie becomes an issue of how far will you go to protect your family. I was on the edge of my seat for the first half of the movie. It was obvious after the first 2 minutes there would be no happy ending to this movie. However at the half way make, the movie could have gone in a number of directions and unfortunately didn’t go the way I would have liked. It seems to run out of ideas. I still enjoyed it but I felt some of the “dream sequences” were not warranted. They become confusing as to what was real and what was not, although this is probably what was meant to happen.
It was good to see an “end of the world” type movie without zombies and aliens. Whilst deeply disturbing, as a horror movie, it was minimalistic although at times extremely violent and did have some shock value.
I am torn over this movie. It was beautifully filmed, the acting, score and building of suspense great. Whilst I did enjoy it, in the end it leaves too many questions unanswered.
Directed by Trey Edwards Schults
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott and Carmen Ejogo
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