Phase 7

I still remember the time when the influenza pandemic made us all paranoids. This is a microcosm sample of that time. A few neighbors isolated in quarantine fighting each other for survival. Great gags, performances and music with moments of extreme stress. It is great to see Argentinian cinema renewing and betting on risky products. Ironic and somewhat bizarre at times, Fase 7 is a fantastic story that might not like everybody, though. But the discerning viewer can not deny that seldom has been so great production on this land and from now on we should not doubt about our filmmakers' abilities. This is an Opera Prima with a stomping debut that it's well worth seeing!

This exciting, low-budget Argentine film by Nicolas Goldbart revolves a young couple, Coco (Daniel Hendler) and Pipi (Jazmin Stuart) living in a small, high middle class apartment complex in present-day Buenos Aires City. Suddenly, the whole edifice where they live is under quarantine due to a strange high-mortality epidemic that affects the lungs of its victims. Thus, Coco and Pipi find themselves prisoners of their own apartment. The same goes for their colorful neighbors. All residents, the local sanitary authorities declare, must remain in their apartments until the quarantine is over. None knows how long would that be. Soon food supplies start to run short. Internet is down; so is television. Things take a turn for the worse and the disease becomes a global pandemic. Authorities everywhere –we learn-- are overwhelmed in a matter of days or perhaps weeks. As millions of thousands of people begin to die worldwide, a state of complete chaos and anarchy follows. A maximum stage alert (Phase 6) is declared by the World Health Organization. Yet things get even worse. The apartment complex mirrors society as a whole as the desperate and paranoid neighbors start making alliances and turning on each other with deadly intentions . . .

The plot: A goofy slacker and his pregnant wife attempt to survive a pandemic after their apartment complex is quarantined.

Phase 7 doesn't bother being coy about its influences. It's basically the plot of Rec, music from John Carpenter's minimalist synth scores, and style of Shaun of the Dead. By itself, that sounds enjoyable enough, if you're into high concept, low budget B movies. However, it's really well done. I'm a bit surprised that the rating is so low, though I can understand why some people might dismiss it as derivative.

Phase 7 isn't overly concerned with traditional horror movie tropes, though it does toy with them. Instead, it focuses on social satire and black comedy. There are very few infected people, but, unlike movies such as Rec and 28 Days Later, the effects tend to be a bit more subtle. Similar to The Signal, people tend to become more extreme in their behavior, though you're often left wondering if people are infected or your average crazy neighbor. In the end, I think the effect is the same, and this is one of the themes of the movie. There's a bit of gore and violence, but it's sparingly used. If you're looking for a vicious bloodbath, you're sure to be disappointed. Most of the scenes are played for humor, rather than tension or horror.

I liked the characters quite a lot. Most of them were flawed in some major way, but they were all fairly likable despite it. The ways that they react to each other and the situations were quite often rather amusing, even if it did play out a bit predictably at times. If you like Shaun of the Dead, Re-Animator, Army of Darkness, and other comedy/horror movies, you'll probably enjoy Phase 7. If you're looking for something original or gory, maybe you should try a different movie, however.

So imagine if in Shaun of the Dead, Liz was 7 months pregnant, they'd just done their monthly supermarket shop and instead of going out, they'd decided to hole up in her block of flats. And the zombies don't bother to attack (there are no zombies in Phase 7, but it has the feel of a zombie film). But the rest of the apartment block goes a bit mental. That would kind of be along the lines of this film. It's funny (most the humour is pretty subtle but there are a few real laugh out loud moments) and it is quite bonkers but in a really enjoyable way. It's maybe not fair to compare it to SotD, it's not quite in that league, but it is a really enjoyable film with some great fun performances that's worth checking out if you get the chance.

I really wanted to like this movie more. I feel like it comes close to being great, but then falls down below the sub-par level due to the plodding first-half.

The biggest issue is the doofus main character who really is a moron. The movie reminds us of this often through the dialogue of other characters, but it's frustrating to a fault.

Oftentimes the character fails to investigate or communicate properly, and seems to go out of his way to be aloof.

Now the highlight of Phase 7 is that there's a lot of suspense and you're never really quite sure what's going on, but when you have a main character with below room temperature I.Q., it turns into an exercise of frustration.

Thankfully the second half of the film picks up quite a bit thanks to the best character in the film, Horatio, moving the pace along.

I sort of wish the movie had reached that point sooner and focused a bit more on the discovery of what was going on rather than the day-to-day antics of the main character and his wife.

Even still, I think the second half of the film really makes it worth watching, especially for Horatio. The only problem is that you have to sit through the first half of the film to get there. Hence the 5 out of 10 rating.