The last couple of movies aside, if Ridley Scott is directing a movie, I’m showing up (Gladiator 2 and Gucci were not among my favorites). Let him direct a post apocalyptic movie – a genre I have a soft spot for – with Guy Pierce and Margaret Qualley, and my butt is seated in the theater. At least this time I was disappointed by Ridley Scott’s directing.
If you haven’t read the book, this film follows Hig (Jacob Elordi) as he and Bangley (Josh Brolin) try to survive in the remote wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. Still dealing with the grief of losing his wife to the flu that wiped out humanity several years back, Hig pilots a cessna plane scavenging for supplies in Denver and staying on the lookout for reapers, a group of baddies who go from city to city burning and killing. Bangley likes the survival mode, but Hig is lonely and wants more people. Though he visits a mennonite community occasionally, Bangley and Hig’s dog, Jasper, are his only company. When Jasper dies during a reaper attack, Hig goes in search of the other people who he thinks he heard giving a radio transmission on his last flight.
His plane has engine trouble and he is forced to land early near Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her father, Pops (Guy Pierce). The father is less welcoming, but Cima and Hig find friendship. Hig plans to leave them behind in search of the town he heard on the radio, but a hoard of reapers attack them and Cima and Pops are forced to go with him. When they find the town, they find Allison Janey as Darlene, an off kilter ex-flight attendant who decides that Cima’s medical background is worth keeping and marrying off without her consent. They flee and end up back at the compound Hig left Bangley at only to find that reapers had attacked in his absence, not that Bangley didn’t enjoy surviving it. He got to blow stuff up.
I’m probably in the minority here, but the pacing of this film was one of its strengths. It slowly moves along, giving the viewer ample time to see how Hig and Bangley live their lives and how each deals with it differently. It does the same when Hig meets Cima and Pops, giving the viewer time to see how the loneliness of survival has affected Cima and Hig, and how much longer it took Pops to warm up to Hig. The grizzly old man had his misgivings, but Hig eventually wins him over when he saves their lives.
In a quick change of pace, their foray into an airport in search of other survivors quickly descends into something truly off-putting. A community that managed to survive with electricity and food and some level of safety only to devolve into a form of madness as their society became mentally ill. The camerawork. The writing in the script. The acting. Even the music. Everything works to give this place an uneasy vibe. And our protagonists escape just in time.
While I don’t love that the dog dies, I do love that the film uses it as a catalyst for Hig trying to find other survivors. Even if he was running from his grief over the dog and his long dead wife, he was at least trying to move on in some capacity. Grief is a heavy fixture in this film as Ridley Scott uses the occasional flashback to show how Hig still remembers his wife. His ability to move on, to say goodbye, so that he can have a happier future with Cima is an arc I will always enjoy seeing in a movie of this sort. If you can’t find the good in people, then what’s the point in surviving, yeah?
Bangley also finds a way to belong with he and the others decide to live with the mennonites at the end of the film. He is standoffish at first, but eventually warms up to this group of people he had gone so long refusing to get to know. He even plays music with them.
Like I said, I found the slow pacing of this film to be to its advantage. But I like a slow burn and I usually gravitate toward films like this. I’m probably one of the few who feels that way, but I’m dying on that hill. Give this movie a chance. Keep an open mind. Get the know the characters. They are worth your time because each actor puts in a great performance. Even Jacob Elordi who, outside of Frankenstein, I’m not a huge fan of.
4 out of 5 stars.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
The last couple of movies aside, if Ridley Scott is directing a movie, I’m showing up (Gladiator 2 and Gucci were not among my favorites). Let him direct a post apocalyptic movie – a genre I have a soft spot for – with Guy Pierce and Margaret Qualley, and my butt is seated in the theater. At least this time I was disappointed by Ridley Scott’s directing.
If you haven’t read the book, this film follows Hig (Jacob Elordi) as he and Bangley (Josh Brolin) try to survive in the remote wilderness of the Rocky Mountains. Still dealing with the grief of losing his wife to the flu that wiped out humanity several years back, Hig pilots a cessna plane scavenging for supplies in Denver and staying on the lookout for reapers, a group of baddies who go from city to city burning and killing. Bangley likes the survival mode, but Hig is lonely and wants more people. Though he visits a mennonite community occasionally, Bangley and Hig’s dog, Jasper, are his only company. When Jasper dies during a reaper attack, Hig goes in search of the other people who he thinks he heard giving a radio transmission on his last flight.
His plane has engine trouble and he is forced to land early near Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her father, Pops (Guy Pierce). The father is less welcoming, but Cima and Hig find friendship. Hig plans to leave them behind in search of the town he heard on the radio, but a hoard of reapers attack them and Cima and Pops are forced to go with him. When they find the town, they find Allison Janey as Darlene, an off kilter ex-flight attendant who decides that Cima’s medical background is worth keeping and marrying off without her consent. They flee and end up back at the compound Hig left Bangley at only to find that reapers had attacked in his absence, not that Bangley didn’t enjoy surviving it. He got to blow stuff up.
I’m probably in the minority here, but the pacing of this film was one of its strengths. It slowly moves along, giving the viewer ample time to see how Hig and Bangley live their lives and how each deals with it differently. It does the same when Hig meets Cima and Pops, giving the viewer time to see how the loneliness of survival has affected Cima and Hig, and how much longer it took Pops to warm up to Hig. The grizzly old man had his misgivings, but Hig eventually wins him over when he saves their lives.
In a quick change of pace, their foray into an airport in search of other survivors quickly descends into something truly off-putting. A community that managed to survive with electricity and food and some level of safety only to devolve into a form of madness as their society became mentally ill. The camerawork. The writing in the script. The acting. Even the music. Everything works to give this place an uneasy vibe. And our protagonists escape just in time.
While I don’t love that the dog dies, I do love that the film uses it as a catalyst for Hig trying to find other survivors. Even if he was running from his grief over the dog and his long dead wife, he was at least trying to move on in some capacity. Grief is a heavy fixture in this film as Ridley Scott uses the occasional flashback to show how Hig still remembers his wife. His ability to move on, to say goodbye, so that he can have a happier future with Cima is an arc I will always enjoy seeing in a movie of this sort. If you can’t find the good in people, then what’s the point in surviving, yeah?
Bangley also finds a way to belong with he and the others decide to live with the mennonites at the end of the film. He is standoffish at first, but eventually warms up to this group of people he had gone so long refusing to get to know. He even plays music with them.
Like I said, I found the slow pacing of this film to be to its advantage. But I like a slow burn and I usually gravitate toward films like this. I’m probably one of the few who feels that way, but I’m dying on that hill. Give this movie a chance. Keep an open mind. Get the know the characters. They are worth your time because each actor puts in a great performance. Even Jacob Elordi who, outside of Frankenstein, I’m not a huge fan of.
4 out of 5 stars.
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