The Survivalist

This was a very good survival film, there were a dozen ways it could have gone and the story explored more scenarios then your average film without the rookie mistake of becoming chaotic.

There's empathy, rawness and a silence that makes you contemplate which way the story will flow as well as characters that you grow to really root for.

I hated the ending as I felt it was unnecessary, the ending really should have ended with the rabbit (don't worry not a spoiler at all)

Sometimes movie endings go for the shock factor and unfortunately that's exactly why the ending fell flat for me. Regardless it was a great movie all the actors were amazing and convincing.

Your heart will race and you will bite your nails because you will grow to root for atleast one of the characters and May even start to feel protective over them. Due to the silent moments, incredible cinematography and survival atmosphere you'll enjoy if you like thrillers.

However if you're interested in movies with a lot of dialogue this isn't the film for you.

This won't be everyone's cup of tea. I however have watched plenty of absolute rubbish and this film is well acted, filmed and written. I'm a big Walking Dead fan and this reminded me quite a bit on it, although more a slower stronger tequila without zombies than the beery dead. The atmosphere is palpable and a lot is left to the imagination as to the whys and whats however the interplay in a low number of characters is pretty intense. You do need to be able to enjoy this kind of thing and there's a lot of subtext social commentary in here, not much is in your face explicit generic movie script that spells everything out. Shot beautifully in Ireland, intense stuff with no laughs, but I thought pretty fresh.

The Survivalist is BAFTA nominated film about a man who is trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world where food is scarce and where people will kill to take it from you . He comes across a mother and daughter and isn't sure he can trust their intentions. This is Grim to say the least. Not grim in a bad way because the story dictates it should be that way but it is hard watch at times. It's graphic as well. Sexually and violently and the characters on display don't say match. Possibly because they are continuously suspicious of each other or maybe because of what they have witnessed in the past , words are as scarce as the food they crave. Good performances from Martin McCann ( we never get to know his name) and Mia Goth add up to an interesting film that might not be to everyone's taste.

Extraordinarily well executed, fresh, replete with lots of smart details bring it all to life. The characters are believable; raw and wild, running on their baser instincts, struggling to be civil in a world where gnash-toothed animals survive and civility only gets you dead. They try to be civil! Oh bless their hearts they try.

What I loved the most is the transformation you see in the characters; they go from feral, viciously unlikeable creeps to slowly warming up and right before your eyes they bloom into something like humans again, full of love and empathy and hate and greed and loyalty and all the paradoxes of the human condition. The setting is well fleshed out, with enough mystery regarding the details of society's breakdown to suspend any disbelief you might have about the premise. You feel like it's real. The characters further help you sense the desperation and anxiety of the world portrayed here. It's very somatic; you feel the hunger, the distrust, the anger and the violence of revenge.

I was left feeling grateful for the world I live in, which is the purpose of theme I suspect. It really could be worse. Watch this movie and feel intense gratitude for your humdrum life. Enjoy!

Definitely a good movie to see. I think the Survivalist says maybe 20 lines in the whole movie but he plays the role perfect. I like the fact that it was hard to predict which direction the movie is going. One thing I am sure everyone hates is to waste their life watching a ridiculous movie that is so predictable where they even throw in bad acting. This won't take you there. At first I thought it was going to be like The Walking Dead but I was happy to see that it was far from that nonsense. The Walking Dead is just another overrated TV show. Enjoy.

James