Writer/Director Justin McConnel has brought one of the most powerful post-apocalyptic films ever made to the screen with a stunning creativity and near poetry. This is a motion picture that takes cinema by the throat and shakes it senseless with its intensity. Haunting imagery and stunning cinematography enhance the sense of unease that permeates each scene. Beautifully filmed and magnificently scored, The Collapsed tells the moving and haunting story of a family fighting for survival after an apocalyptic event sends them on a journey in search of safety. John Fantasia is superb as the father responsible for his beloved wife and children and it is the performance of a lifetime, sure to catapult him to stardom. Ann Moule as his wife is also outstanding and gives her character depth and humanity. As the film progresses, the tension becomes almost unendurable, the intense, disturbing environment overwhelming. There is a surreal quality to the Canadian locations and this serves to make an unreal situation even more other worldly. The brilliant screenplay builds the horror until the ultimate in shattering motion picture climaxes. What this small film company has achieved on a minimal budget is astonishing and this films originality and creativity renews one's faith in independent cinema.

Take the other negative reviews to heart. I wish I had read them before getting this through Netflix. I watched the first 10 minutes or so and the bad acting was already apparent. Started flipping forward chapter by chapter and then did 4x to 8x speed on the DVD player until my suspicions were confirmed. Even with all that it was a waste of time. Not a quality flick at all like "The Happening". It was a waste of their time and money to make it. Unbelievable...I have to write 4 more lines of text to make this acceptable by the website. Can we possibly waste any MORE time with this movie? OK,one more line; maybe that will do it. Bye end of world movie.

It had a few decent ideas and might have been better with a budget. The acting was pretty ordinary and considering that the two guys had just come across the rest of their family wiped out they did not seem THAT upset. They must have missed the emotion class. Basically something happens and a family are trying to escape the city before it collapses into chaos. They find a car and set off for the country. They make a big mistake and stop at a petrol station for fuel and supplies. Some scary dudes pull up armed to the teeth and they head for the woods to escape.Then things get a bit weird as we move into The Happening territory. We finally discover what is going on from some other characters who have fortified some farm buildings and the revelation that all is not as it seems.Not a bad ending really and some smart ideas it has to be said. But the direction is lacklustre and the script a bit plodding as we have endless shots of trees and our heroes walking. The usual fake reviews bull it up into something it isn't and overall it is poor but has it's moments and thankfully it contains no zombies which is a nice change. It probably could be made into something interesting with a bit of money behind it. Certainly not good but then not the usual rubbish either

The more I think of this as actually an elongated Twilight Zone the better it actually gets. Firstly John Fantasia holds the show together. The premise isn't too bad and to be honest considering the budget and it was probably filmed in a week, it did well with it and most of the supporting cast are actually quite spot on. As a movie however a few key things keep me from a 5 which I consider quite watchable. Personally the score was grating on my nerves as simply over the top at times and the sound mix was jarring and a little off for me. Secondly the son and daughter to me brought another level of idiocy in an otherwise 'real' approach movie. The son is supposed to be mid 20's but behaves like an inept and petulant 15 year old. Its the end of the world as they know it, they don't know why but they're avoiding every other person because they're going crazy. So in the woods 18ish yo daughter decides to wonder off away from the safety of the group with a flippant 'thanks dad' as if he said '10 more minutes on the swings honey'... to...shave her legs, when she's wearing jeans, long socks, is dirty hasn't showered in a week and is otherwise travelling constantly through the woods. A movie can succeed on a small budget but attention to detail in character and content is important, these two characters for me were a tad sloppy.So all said not bad if you're in the mood for this, a bit more time and attention and this may have been better, but no Absentia by all means.