A Living Dog

This is storyline badly written, should have never made it to production. I can honestly tell from the very beginning the intro just how bad the sci-fi movie with me. I can see how they try to bring some attention to detail but it was complete failure. The actress / actors was always looking around at nothing and then when something comes it's still nothing.

I had the chance to watch this movie during the Landsberg film-festival "snow dance". It is a low-budget movie which surprises with realistic animations and strong film-music/sounds.

The setting is quickly told: robots and drones have taken over the world and are hunting any living human. Our hero has managed to survive and escaped into a wooden-house in the North. There he meets a female survivor who is trying to fight the robots.

The movie lives from the atmosphere and the beautiful shots. There is little talk since any talk would attract the robots. The relationship between the main actors also remains quite superficial.

Expect a dense atmosphere, with few moments where you can escape from this apocalyptic future by diving into relaxing nature-shots of Finland's' forests and lakes.

Also great screenplay and acting. (Only the last minutes felt a bit stretched...)

It's hard to write a review for this movie because it's hard to figure out why A Living Dog works as well as it does. One minor question that I haven't yet sorted out is why it's called "A Living Dog." There is a living dog who makes a very brief appearance in silhouette only but I guess that the movie name has additional meaning. I think one thing that is very interesting is that movie transcends the cliches it references and employs: the "Terminator Machines" and the apocalypse details are referenced with brief "yada yada yada" nods. We are given just enough info to "get the lowdown". So the movie ultimately transcends it's own plot, doesn't get caught up in it's own details. It actually has a kinship in my humble opinion with The Verdict (1982) directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Paul Newman. The male protagonist is a kind of silent Frank Galvin character reciting to himself "There are no other cases, this is the case."

Rating Breakdown: Story - 0.75 :: Direction - 1.50 :: Pace - 1.25 :: Performances - 1.50 :: Entertainment - 1.25 :::: TOTAL - 6.25/10.

Silence has rarely been this terrifying. A New World Order takes the dystopian sci-fi thriller formula and strips it down to something raw, intense, and almost entirely wordless. It's A Quiet Place meets The Terminator, but on an indie budget-and yet, miraculously, it works.

The premise is simple: humanity has fallen. Robots rule. The last survivors must stay silent, because the machines hunt by sound, and speech equals death. This concept is executed brilliantly by writer-director Daniel Raboldt and co-writer Thorsten Franzen, who craft a film where silence isn't just a stylistic choice-it's the entire foundation of survival.

With almost no dialogue, everything rests on the performances of Stefan Ebel (Tomasz) and Siri Nase (Lilja), who must convey emotion, trust, and tension without words. And they deliver. The film's pacing is slow, methodical, but effective-though modern audiences accustomed to action-packed storytelling might find it a little too patient for their liking.

Raboldt's direction is masterful, using framing and visual storytelling to build tension. The world feels empty yet dangerous, and despite the low budget, the film looks fantastic. The special effects are subtle but effective, and the looming presence of the unseen machines keeps the stakes high.

This won't be for everyone. It's quiet. It's slow. But for those who love atmospheric, intelligent sci-fi-films like Moon or Children of Men-this is an absolute must-watch. And the ending? It's the kind that lingers, making the whole experience feel worthwhile.

A bold, brilliant slice of dystopian cinema. Just don't expect any pep talks.

It is close to perfect score for an independent film made without pay by cast members and crowd funding.