EDGE OF EXTINCTION

Directed by: Andrew Gilbert

Starring: Luke Hobson, Georgie Smibert, Chris Kaye

England, fifteen years after World War 3 devastated the planet. A young man ekes out a solitary existence, avoiding contact with anyone, especially the cannibalistic raiders roaming the countryside. However when he meets a girl, he finds his defenses lowered and may finally have something to fight for…

The  film centers on The Boy (this is one of those films which doesn't bother giving its cast proper names, perhaps feeling names are meaningless in the post-apocalypse), a scavenger who has managed to survive mainly by keeping out of the way of everyone else. We get a good look at his self-serving nature early on when he hides from a bunch of cannibalistic hunters chasing another scavenger. It might have been a pragmatic decision but even so…

An encounter with The Girl (…) seems to enable his point of view rather than dissuade it, but at least it moves him to action when she is captured by the Hunters and taken back to the city. He even begrudgingly teams up with The Girl's partner, known only as The Man.

In between a lot of gory short sharp fights and chases, we get flash-backs to the lead up to World War 3 and the panic that ensued, how The Boy and his brother lost their parents and learned to survive. There's a particularly harrowing scene where people are looting the local supermarket and I have to say it didn't feel a million miles away from what we've seen during the recent pandemic. I wonder if the film-makers feel the same way!

There's a strong dynamic between The Boy and The Man, both played very well. Whilst The Man has a lot of blood on his hands and a lot to answer for generally, The Boy's carries the weight of inaction on his shoulders. Yes, he hasn't murdered anyone, but he hasn't tried to save anyone either. Interestingly, The Girl's moral compass seems to point somewhere between the two of them.

The production values here are pretty good for a film of this budget. The film is set 15 years after the war and you get the feeling they didn't have to do much to dress the locations to fit. The film is a perfect reminder that parts of England are as grim as anything. The film gives us a relatively realistic scenario, no cars or vehicles of any kind in use, no guns, except in a couple of the flash-backs. As mentioned above the film contains a number of good fight scenes, dirty and up close without relying on shakycam and usually ending with a gory death, handled with some very good fx work.

The main problem with the film is its running time, which clocks in at 2hr 25 minutes. That's nearly an hour longer than a film like this should be and I think it’s a case of a director overly protective of his own script. Even so, I found the film just about kept my attention even when it was meandering.

THE VERDICT

Edge of Extinction is almost as bleak as The Road but does allow a touch of fantasy escapism with the Hunters. This is a stark, cynical world where goodness and kindness have almost been wiped out, leaving jaded evil in its place. It’s a long journey to travel, as we follow these disparate characters try to regain their humanity, but it's an entertaining one nevertheless.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)