Apocalypse Road, 2016.
Directed by Brett Bentman.
Starring Katie Kohler, Ashlyn McEvers, Nellie Sciutto, and Lance De Los Santos.
SYNOPSIS:
Apocalypse Road follows the journey of two sisters while separated during a post apocalyptic depression.
There was a time in the 80’s when you couldn’t move for post apocalyptic action films. After the success of Mad Max (and more so, The Road Warrior) and the rise in VHS, the fact someone could go out to the nearest desert, shoot a post-apoc film for 10 dollars and then release it meant a slew of these movies appeared. So, into the office comes the chance to review Apocalypse Road. The title and cover art seems to promise something along the lines of (probably a low rent equivalent) of Mad Max: Fury Road. However it doesn’t quite work out like that.
This plays out more like The Road, John Hillcoat’s grim but enthralling post-apocalyptic road movie starring Viggo Mortensen. Like that film, Apocalypse Road scrapes away the exploitation, quirk and humour often found in an after the end kind of film. It’s gritty, dour but at the same time watchable. Writer/Director Brett Bentman takes a serious approach to the film. The story is pretty simple, as two sisters head through a barren wasteland of deserted factories, warehouses and towns, toward the coast and the hope of salvation. In the midst of this they become separated and each encounter their own obstacles on their mission to reconnect in the place of hope.
It’s all nicely put together. Bentman uses a lot of longer takes to keep the momentum of the scenes and some nice steadicam work. Everything is smooth rather than frantic, and though leaning heavily on a naturalistic tone, the photography by Michael Ray Lewis is decent. One major strength of the film is the pulsing and atmospheric score from David Levy.
The cast are all solid. Katie Kohler and Ashlyn McEvers hold the film pretty well and the rest assist ably. What it perhaps lacks is a really strong and complex character, or I suppose in post-apocalyptic films it lacks a show-stopping character.
Ultimately, though Apocalypse Road is nicely crafted with good intentions and a careful hand, there is not enough happening to maintain interest, and even at a lithe sub-90 minutes, it moves too slowly. In the end, whilst I appreciate the tone they were going for, I did feel the film lacked a sense of fun which could have elevated the concept.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Tom Jolliffe
Originally published October 31, 2017. Updated April 11, 2018.
