Director: Zak Hilditch
Starring: Nathan Phillips, Angourie Rice, Jessica DeGouw, Daniel Henshall, Sarah Snook, David Field
Plot: A catastrophic event has struck Earth and the surface of the world is being slowly obliterated. Perth, Australia, is one of the last cities in the path of destruction and everyone knows they have 12 hours left to live. Everyman James intends to put himself into a party-induced stupor for the incoming death, but when he crosses paths with a distressed young girl he begins down a different path.
Review: I feel sorry for the greater proportion of our readers being in the States of A, because you don’t have a release date for These Final Hours yet. It’s an indie production that’s been picking up awards by the shovelful and building a strong word of mouth hype. We saw it this evening and…damn…you’re going to want to see this one.
We’ve seen the apocalypse unfold on our screens many a time. We’ve seen the brave, All-American blue collar heroes defeat the end of the world with their superior technology and firepower in Armageddon. We’ve seen the human spirit prevail and hope survive in Deep Impact. We’ve seen surreal, lonely explorations of human nature in The Quiet Earth. We’ve seen mutant kangaroos, alien enslavement and stoned Hollywood A-Listers.
We’ve never seen an apocalypse like this before. When I heard that it was about an Australian trying to get to an ‘End of the World’ party I was expecting something…funny. My perception of the movie had changed after ten minutes. This is the most emotionally weighted version of the world’s end we’ve experienced. The movie begins with James driving through the suburbs of Perth giving us a glimpse of human behavior during this definitive end. Groups of families gathered in prayer stand around the corner from brutal, visceral violence. Bodies are draped over the curb and hang from lampposts while desperate people seek an impossible escape. There’s no getting around it, this movie hits hard. It is possibly the most authentic and human take on the apocalypse we’re likely to find in cinemas. A massive drug fueled party complete with orgies and games of Russian Roulette paint a bleak but believable picture.
The story unfolds as a road movie, giving James and his passenger Rose many different encounters along the way as they both seek the place they need to be in their final hours. More often than not you as the viewer will be torn about what constitutes right and wrong, and what exactly they might do in the same circumstances. Expect to be challenged, shocked and left pondering your own place in the madness. The closest match in cinema would be The Road, but These Final Hours brings with it much more relatable characters and circumstances.
Nathan Phillips as James carries the film remarkably well. In spite of the emotional drive behind the character we never descend into over the top drama. Phillips’ keeps the weight of his world reigned in just enough to make him believable, and it’s a real problem that he’s running away from. There’s no safe refuge or last minute save for these characters, so the actors do get put through a range of difficult situations. The real star of the show is Angourie Rice as the young Rose, she puts in a phenomenal performance. It’s rare to see such a raw and powerful performance from someone so young. During the director Q&A that followed the movie she was the focus of most questions – the audience was spellbound by her role.
Being an indie film made by relatively new team of film-makers there are a couple of cracks showing through. Most of the CGI destruction is solid but a couple of effects don’t quite convince. Having said that there’s little to fault from a technical perspective. The cinematographer is fantastic, especially with the slow grading that creates the sense of increased heat throughout the movie. Given the budget they were working with, this film is a huge achievement.
We were lucky to see this with an early audience and sharing in the reaction. It’s not often that you see an audience flat out stunned by what they’ve just seen. Even though the director and producer were present in the cinema it took a good minute for the applause to kick in. If you’re living in a land down under These Final Hours will be opening on Thursday. Get tickets. For our international readers you can check out the website at These Final Hours to enjoy the fantastic interactive prequel they’ve but together. It’s awesome.
Score: NINE out of TEN
There’s also this.
