The Survivalist

COVID is referenced throughout. Some carriers, some spreaders. Lots of death. A complete failure of leadership. This movie seems like it was made for $1000 over a long weekend. Boring and predictable. No upside.

As "The Survivalist" (2021 release; 90 min.) opens, we hear a radio DJ talk about it being "Day 592 since the outbreak of COVID-19", and lamenting that the authorities put healthy people in camps, with dire results. We then are introduced to Sarah, a teenage girl who is immune to the virus, and hence needs special protection.. But Sarah and her friend are being chased by a crew of baddies, headed by Aaron. At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the film.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from prolific producer and at times also director (as in this film) of mostly horror fare, done on the cheap. Here he diverts slightly. For a few minutes, I thought this might actually be quite good, with the reference to COVID-19 and how messed up it got. But alas, when the story really gets going, it unravels pretty quickly. It all looks so.. amateurish! I almost fell off the couch when I realized that Aaron, the leader of the baddies, was played by... John Malkovich. Yes, THE John Malkovich. Say it ain't so, John! What the hell were you thinking? Have you really fallen this low? I guess so...Anyway, to say that this movie is beyond bad would be the understatement of the year.

"The Survivalist" was released straight on VOD last Fall. I saw it on Showtime Anytime the other night, taking a flyer on it. Wasn't worth it, and I cannot recommend this film in good conscience to anyone, not least to the Malkovich fans out there. But of course don't take my word for it, so check it out and draw your own conclusion.

It's day 592 of Covid-19 Delta and the world has collapsed. Uninfected people were rounded up in camps which ended in disaster. The cities are devastated and bands of pirates are headed out into the country. Aaron (John Malkovich) leads one group searching for a young woman assumed to be immune. She finds a protector in Ben (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

This is a low budget affair. Somebody found a location with a few buildings. They slap-dashed some stuff. Worst still, they slap-dashed a script. The biggest mistake is using the real world situation. They need to use a fictional virus so that they can create a fictional world. It's more than the worlds not matching. They can't possibly get the science right. They need a fictional virus to create movie-logic of their own. The directing is pretty bad. There are a few good actors here who probably had projects canceled on them and needed the work during the pandemic. Malkovich is trying his best but the camera work is bad. It's all pretty bad except for the professional actors working.

The acting are ok from well experienced actors. It is just poor script with characters' dumb moves that I wouldn't do if I'm drunk.

Beware: this is a B-movie, cheaply made, with black and white (UNimpressive) photography.

I was drawn to this movie by the name of the magnificent actor John Malkovich. Why does he lower himself to these kind of movies? Perhaps he has hit lower ground financially, because such a terrific actor should not lower himself to these kind of cheaply made B-movies.

Everything about this movie looks and feels amateurish. Just watching the first 5 minutes gave me a sinking feeling in my stumach. John Malkovich only appears for a few minutes, so this seems to be that sort of movies some actors (desperately) agree to do out of financial dire straits.

Let's hope John Malkovich can still be given parts that give credit to his wonderfully gifted acting talents.

The story: forget about it. Forget about this movie alltogether...that would be best for everybody involved...