Movies making you think aren’t always dull. Using brain matter whilst viewing an informative or entertaining slice of cinema unearths the messages it conveys.
Australian film These Final Hours ensures its apocalyptic thriller-leanings engage due to some tight direction and believable performances. Hopefully it enables viewers to decipher the questions raised; a skill for which any good movie aims.
James (Nathan Phillips) is on his way to a party. It isn’t any ordinary party as the increasingly lawless world looks down the barrel of a shattering cataclysm. With only 12 hours to go until earth’s last gasp, James determines to see out his final hours partying. On his way he meets Rose (Angourie Rice), a small girl looking for her father. Deciding whether to attend the party or help her, his decision changes the remainder of their lives as the final countdown looms.
These Final Hours is an interesting essay on selfish needs vs self-sacrifice. The moment of truth arrives when a true person’s nature is exposed. This mantra overshadows the movie like a looming spectre. Everywhere he goes James sees the best and worst of humanity. His interaction with Rose forces him to question his past behaviour and make peace with it. In James, Rose finds a father figure and stabilising influence amongst an increasingly frayed world.
Zac Hilditch’s direction ensures the drama and tension are well blended. There’s no room for melodrama or overuse of musical cues – he lets the visuals and performances express the story’s power. Phillips and Rice make a good duo with their characters running a believable emotional gamut. You feel their anger and despair and yet see a sense of hope. The striking cinematography effectively creates the rough, desolate and hazy world in which they amble along until the final fadeout.
Succeeding in its quest to engage whilst telling a stirring tale, These Final Hours is a fine movie. Having a focus missing from other recent Australian productions, it makes one look forward to seeing what its director does next.
Reviewed by Patrick Moore
Twitter: @PatrickMoore14
Rating out of 10: 7
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