Paul (Joel Edgerton),
his wife Sarah and their teenage son Travis,
live in a cabin in the woods during a seemingly post-apocalypse, the
unseen outside world having apparently been ravaged by a deadly virus. Their
survival depends on a set of airtight rules, which is made clear from the
offset when they are forced to shoot dead and then burn Sarah's father having discovered he is infected. But when stranger Will tries to break in one night, Paul is forced to make some new rules.
That’s the premise at least. The short of it is there’s no actual plot. Nor is there any sense of dread or tension, making you wonder why this film is being branded as one of 2017s finest horrors. But the conundrum here isn’t just the praise – it’s the genre placement. Labelling what is evidently a post-apocalyptic drama and nothing more, as a horror, or even thinking of it as one after viewing, is nothing short of idiotic. And its marketing material, like its nail-biting trailer, its very horror movie poster, and even the very suggestive yet consequently misleading title, nothing short of a lie.
That’s the premise at least. The short of it is there’s no actual plot. Nor is there any sense of dread or tension, making you wonder why this film is being branded as one of 2017s finest horrors. But the conundrum here isn’t just the praise – it’s the genre placement. Labelling what is evidently a post-apocalyptic drama and nothing more, as a horror, or even thinking of it as one after viewing, is nothing short of idiotic. And its marketing material, like its nail-biting trailer, its very horror movie poster, and even the very suggestive yet consequently misleading title, nothing short of a lie.
No comments:
Post a Comment