Rating: C-
Dir: Kostas Ouzas and Nick Kozakis
Star: Tegan Crowley, Scott Marcus, Steven Kennedy
A somewhat interesting take on life after the zombie apocalypse, mostly because there aren’t very many zombies to be found. Evie (Crowley) is part of a group that is seeking sanctuary, but after they are separated from her husband, John (Marcus), Evie opts to stay behind at their designated re-assembly point and wait for him, while the others head on in the only remaining vehicle. John does, indeed, show up, but hot on his heels is Charlie (Kennedy), who has another car, is stocked with supplies and appears to be a much more credible source of protection than her spouse.
However, his charming demeanour is eventually revealed to be a facade, though whether John is up to facing the threat is quite another matter. [He’s a former college lecturer, and seems fonder of pontificating on the situation in which they are, than taking practical steps to ensure their survival] Charlie makes his interest in Evie unpleasantly clear, leaving her with some tricky choices to make, in terms of both her marriage and her own survival. It’s one of those cases where the very real external dangers are nothing compared to the threat posed by other survivors. There’s almost the feeling of a stage-play here, with 95% of the film taking place in a single location, and a good deal more dialogue than action.
That comes as a bit of a mixed blessing: the (pseudo-?) intellectual nature of John is something where a little goes a long way, though I guess all three leads do a decent enough job of handling the various shifts in both the power balance and their relationships. The ending… Well, let’s just say I have some qualms about the way in which it unfolds, with more than one character behaving in ways that seem at odds with what has been previously been established. Though this may actually be part of the point the film is trying to make: in a post-apocalyptic world, should you trust anyone? If it’s nice that the makers have tried to go in a different direction – I’ve seen enough zombie films of late to satisfy that craving – the execution here has too many flaws to lead to anything more than an extremely limited success.