Caught this on Netflix, so didn't really shell-out to see it.
The long opening act is a treat: Survival in the wilderness - it turns out - is 50% boredom, 50% discomfort, and Ann seems to have got the hang of it, and seems to be doing okay. The first 30-40 minutes sketches in her daily existence and fills in a few gaps in her backstory, and is particularly well done, and superbly acted.
Then she encounters two other survivors who are clearly under-prepared and out of their depth in the wilderness, and she takes them under her wing. It would have been by far the better choice to have simply crossed the open road behind them and never looked back, but this being a drama (and drama requires conflict), she bonds with them and shares her camp, food and knowledge. It would have been the work of a moment for them to eliminate Ann from the proceedings, but the film wants to be about guilt and atonement (this is even a line spoken by one of the characters in the last act), so consequently choices are made that any sane person wouldn't make, and it all unravels in the last 15 minutes, as mentioned by almost all reviewers on here.
Other reviewers have also noted the movie's realism, but I'm not so sure about that. In truth, hiding out in a forest where food is obviously scarce wouldn't be my first choice, but keeping as low a profile as possible would be, so whaddya gonna do? Ann makes for a hard protagonist to be sympathetic towards, and even with getting to know her, she makes for a bit of an introverted bore. A well-acted bore, but a bore nevertheless. She is forced to do a terrible, terrible thing, and if we'd had more sympathy for her as a character, it would have been devastatingly affecting. As it is, it is merely uncomfortably sad.
Overall the production is handsomely mounted and shot, but is often way under-lit, as is the fashion for movies shot on digital. No expense was spent on the zombie make-ups, and I guess this is forgivable, given that they are just there to provide peril at various points. Tom Savini it is not.
On the plus side: Ann going about her survival chores. The scene where she leaves her baby in the car while scavenging for food. The atmospheric shots of the wilderness. On the debit side: The gratuitous use of the f-word in every dialogue exchange. The final 15 minutes which are seemingly only there to provide an unexpected atonement for Ann.
If you have a spare 90 minutes and you want to see an alternative to hiding out in a penitentiary or farmstead a la Walking Dead, then this one might just be for you.
The long opening act is a treat: Survival in the wilderness - it turns out - is 50% boredom, 50% discomfort, and Ann seems to have got the hang of it, and seems to be doing okay. The first 30-40 minutes sketches in her daily existence and fills in a few gaps in her backstory, and is particularly well done, and superbly acted.
Then she encounters two other survivors who are clearly under-prepared and out of their depth in the wilderness, and she takes them under her wing. It would have been by far the better choice to have simply crossed the open road behind them and never looked back, but this being a drama (and drama requires conflict), she bonds with them and shares her camp, food and knowledge. It would have been the work of a moment for them to eliminate Ann from the proceedings, but the film wants to be about guilt and atonement (this is even a line spoken by one of the characters in the last act), so consequently choices are made that any sane person wouldn't make, and it all unravels in the last 15 minutes, as mentioned by almost all reviewers on here.
Other reviewers have also noted the movie's realism, but I'm not so sure about that. In truth, hiding out in a forest where food is obviously scarce wouldn't be my first choice, but keeping as low a profile as possible would be, so whaddya gonna do? Ann makes for a hard protagonist to be sympathetic towards, and even with getting to know her, she makes for a bit of an introverted bore. A well-acted bore, but a bore nevertheless. She is forced to do a terrible, terrible thing, and if we'd had more sympathy for her as a character, it would have been devastatingly affecting. As it is, it is merely uncomfortably sad.
Overall the production is handsomely mounted and shot, but is often way under-lit, as is the fashion for movies shot on digital. No expense was spent on the zombie make-ups, and I guess this is forgivable, given that they are just there to provide peril at various points. Tom Savini it is not.
On the plus side: Ann going about her survival chores. The scene where she leaves her baby in the car while scavenging for food. The atmospheric shots of the wilderness. On the debit side: The gratuitous use of the f-word in every dialogue exchange. The final 15 minutes which are seemingly only there to provide an unexpected atonement for Ann.
If you have a spare 90 minutes and you want to see an alternative to hiding out in a penitentiary or farmstead a la Walking Dead, then this one might just be for you.