+1SPOILER ALERT (not really an alert as there is nothing to "spoil", but hey...)This film can be most positively described as torpid, cinematic drivel. There is no plot (none worth noting) and no real acting, but there are many well filmed shot of the woods, so it gets two stars for cinematography. The costuming and scene sets are laughable. I want Fingleton's brand of laundry detergent, such white pillowcases... lovely. The main character is an uninteresting, incompetent bungler who has been lucky enough to last seven years alone in a post-apocalyptic woods without being killed. He isn't a "survivalist" at all and has no defensive skills, rather he blunders about without much of a plan tending to a child's garden which could never support him (designed by people who don't know what a subsistence garden looks like), regularly leaves himself completely undefended (2 shells are nothing), never attempts to find or construct new weaponry or build any sort of defences apart from cans on a string (7 years and he can't make a single spear or trap). He's only alive because he hides. There's hardly any dialogue, which is probably a mercy as there is no real plot; it's all about maudy looks and Fingleton has just one expression, the face of a frightened weasel. (Credit where due, Goth has mentally challenged and bored down pat, what range.) No one is attractive, but they all have good bodies. Perhaps that is realistic in an apocalyptic world, but it's so a la mode to "fix" actors with unattractive faces by sending them to the gym, that it grates. I realise that apparently faces are irrelevant these days because audiences find any actor with a well muscled bodies attractive, but they should be able to actually act; of course without lines or a plot, what can one do? When the other "bad guys" finally catch the "survived for a bit by hidingist" for dinner it's a great relief; at least he finally has a purpose. Its a pity they missed Goth and the script writer...

You dive in the world of a lonely guy, trying to survive after an apocalyptic event. It's not a fast action movie, there is a lot of tension from the start till the end. It's not about big explosions and guns, rather interactions between this guys and 2 strangers.Its an excellent movie but don't watch it if you re a bit depressed, it's in the same vein than the excellent "The road". Dark and hopeless.

This is the kind of movie you can watch in fast-forward, with only a pauses here and there to sniff around. In fact, I recommend it.But even if you watch the whole thing you will be left with lots of questions. What caused population to fall after oil production fell? Once population fell, why was food scarce? Why didn't more people grow food? There was nothing but land and wilderness as far as the eye could see, but only one guy growing a tiny little patch of vegetables? Why did the guy grow such a small patch? Why didn't they expand the garden when the women showed up? Why not use that open field to grow even more food? So again...why on earth was food scarce? Was there some rule that only this one guy was allowed to grow food? And at the end when she finally found a settlement, why were the people walking around in the grass pretending it was a farm? There were no fields of vegetables, only grass? Was that a movie mistake, or did they plan to eat that saw grass? And lastly, what the heck is wrong with people who can't make a decent, believable movie?

Left breathless by the British Sci-Fi Post-Apocalypse Horror The Girl with All the Gifts, I started watching Videos related to it. Letting the Vids play on, I stumbled on a review by Mark Kermode for a minimalist British "hard Sci-Fi" Post-Apocalypse. Finding comments linking it to All the Gifts and the minimalist cast (three people) of fellow Brit "hard Sci-Fi" Ex_Machina, I joined in the fight for survival.The plot:Since a drop in crude oil has led to the end of civilisation, a survivalist has been living in the countryside for seven and a half years. After the death of his brother, the survivalist has been tending to his own plot of land. One day he hears a sudden knock at the door,and the survivalist is met by Kathryn and her daughter Milja,who are desperate for food and drink. Keeping his gun on them,he agrees to what they want, in exchange for Kathryn helping out with the garden, and Mija having sex with him. Soon bonding together, Kathryn tells Mija that the plot of land is only big enough for two people. View on the film:Planting just a handful of dialogue in the entire film, writer/director Stephen Fingleton marks his feature film debut with an astonishingly assured confidence. Playing the opening 15 minutes in complete silence of human voice, Fingleton & cinematographer Damien Elliott turn the sound of the apocalypse up with an Ambient (no score) soundtrack of cracking twigs, rain tapping on the roof and birds whistling in the distance of a world gone long ago. Marking the credits with the line of existence dropping, Fingleton makes the survivors existence a terrible life, with gruelling, extended takes by Fingleton pulling the mistrusting nature of the trio into the open.Exchanging sex for food and water, Fingleton rubs a grubby atmosphere over the screen, with the lighting making the sex look bleaker than the soil outside. Slicing into the mistrust that haunts the place, Fingleton chillingly presents things as matter of fact, with Mija having to go to the river to wash away the blood from her period, showing how everyday essentials have all been lost. Focusing on the present rather than the past, the screenplay by Fingleton makes every piece of dialogue count via it only being used when a character is trying to find a secure way to survive. Entering as outsiders, Olwen Fouere and Mia Goth give masterful performances as mum and daughter Kathryn and Milja. Looking New Age, Fouere peels away at any warmth from Kathryn to revealing a calculating mother, whose loyalty solely lays in her and Mija's survival, whilst Goth gives Milja a cold shoulder vagueness which stops anyone knowing what she truly thinks. Never letting his guard down, Martin McCann gives an incredibly rustic performance as the Survivalist,with McCann putting the desperation of the situation across with cold, soulless glances giving all the "dialogue" anyone could need,as the Survivalist fights for survival.