Expired – Movie Review
Director: Ivan Sen
Writer: Ivan Sen (Screenplay)
Cast
- Ryan Kwanten (Dead Silence)
- Jillian Nguyen (Millie Lies Low)
- Hugo Weaving (The Matrix)
- David Field (Mortal Kombat)
Plot: In an uncharted future, two hardened souls meet and confront each other with the things they have done and what they have become.
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Expired starts in an uncharted future, Jack (Kwanten) wanders through the big city, completing jobs. Spending nights meeting other people, with the latest being April (Nguyen) a private singer. As the two-start spending time together, they learn they are both just as lost in the city.
Meanwhile, Jack is trying to build a relationship with Doctor Bergman (Weaving), a man he has had a connection with in the past. Jack ends up finding himself at a crossroads in life, for the first time he can be happy, but will it cost him?
Verdict on Expired
Characters
Jack spends his days wandering the streets, killing people for money. He is an isolated figure with no connection to anyone in the city. Jack finds himself drawn to a private dancer, which ends up sending him down a path to learn more about his past, as he looks to change his future.
April is a private dancer that performs before befriending Jack. She has also lived an isolated life with the new connection to Jack, bringing her some happiness for once in the bleak city.
Doctor Bergman has a connection to Jack; he has been tracked down by him as things in his life start changing. He holds secrets about Jack’s childhood, holding the answers to why he is experiencing changes in his life.
Performances
The film requires the performances to feel bleak and empty, to reflect the world. Ryan Kwanten and Jillian Nguyen are both brilliant at creating this distant feeling humanity has. Hugo Weaving brings the much-needed explanation sequences to the film.
Story
The story follows two lonely souls in a bleak and empty city that meet and fall in love. Only they don’t understand what love is because of the distant feelings humans have placed upon themselves.
This story shows us such an empty city, where the residents are content with being alone and never attempting to make connections. It paints a disturbing view of the future and what would happen in humans understood what they could have, like before. On the negative side, we can see the story feeling empty, like the world. It makes everything harder to connect to, as there is no explanation as to how it ended up like this.
Themes
Expired is a sci-fi romance that takes us to a disturbingly crowded but empty feeling world. One that has created pure isolation from human contact. There are plenty of ideas for a future with no need to talk to each other while keeping everything looking like it could be tomorrow. This is the standout visual experience of this movie.
Final Thoughts – Expired is a beautifully built bleak and empty world.
