Weekly Review -- The opposite of safety

After the Dark (2013) -- I find that, in today's cinema, there are simply not enough films that make us think. There are those films that use effects to no end, those that use innovative methods to explore dramatic tales, those that rely more on source material than a good screenplay, everything except films that actually make us use our brains and contemplate the story that we just saw. The beautiful puzzler that is Mulholland Drive knocked us out back in 2001 -- let us process that fact for a moment -- and the dreamscape of Inception blew our minds in 2010. Meanwhile, in 2014, the latest Transformers flick just made a billion dollars worldwide. Yes, my fellow buffs, it is a sad state of affairs indeed.

Enter a film that makes us ponder values, beliefs and our humanity through the prism of total annihilation. John Huddles' After the Dark is a haunting thriller with dashes of dark humor and intellectually charged twists. 

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS HUGE SPOILERS**

In a Jakarta international school, philosophy teacher Eric Zimit (James D'Arcy) poses a dilemma to a class of twenty graduating seniors. If a nuclear holocaust wiped out life on Earth and the students needed to choose ten of them to take shelter in an underground bunker, who would they pick? Through elaborate debates, the students learn about their strengths, weaknesses and loyalties, but how far is their teacher willing to push them?

The film asks some truly intriguing questions about human nature and survival. Who would be able to determine someone else's worth in this kind of situation? How would this burden of significance change us? Do empathy and mercy go out the window with the first atomic explosion or are they the traits that would ultimately save our species? Thankfully, the film never tries preaching the answers, because Huddles realizes that there are none. Instead, he lets us make up our minds by showing relationships and friendships that heat up and fizzle over the course of the proceedings, as well as the self-preservation instinct hard at work. Life is a complex state and life under the pressure of cheating death is close to infeasible, yet we try.

I also have to mention the stunning cinematography by John Radel. The location imagery is breathtaking and the coloring goes from evoking concepts such as dawn and the vibrancy of being alive to darkness and the incomprehensible prospect of not knowing if there is a tomorrow. The beauty of these shots belies what they represent, while cleverly contributing to Huddles' main point that aesthetics are more important than we can realize, affecting us on a level deeper than visual or even emotional.

The only relatively ineffective element is the sudden reveal in the last scenes and how it ties in with what had just transpired. I wish that this development had been woven into the narrative and not uncovered so abruptly. The way it is, it feels a little out of context, as if a different film was playing in the background while we were watching this one. I do like the juxtaposition of one character as intellect and another as heart in this part, though, and how they relate to what Petra needs. All of us would like to have an opportunity to choose the lush, nurturing and inspiring side of existence, like Petra's version of the apocalypse has shown us and like the character ends up choosing for herself. On that note, however, the story offers much stronger instances that prove how human intelligence cannot be considered equal to the soul and spirit, with the entire third iteration of the apocalypse being one example. The screenplay does not need a love triangle to spell it out.

The acting is excellent. D'Arcy has shown in the underrated In Their Skin that he knows how to tap into pure insanity, and here his unconventional teacher straddles and occasionally blurs the line between eccentric and plain maniacal. Sophie Lowe is a formidable on-screen presence as a girl who does not back down from her convictions and confidence. Warm, ethereal and generally seeming as though she belongs in a Renaissance painting, Lowe nevertheless paints the character of Petra with a unique fierceness. Rhys Wakefield, who was outstanding in The Purge, shines as a lovelorn teen who has never had a chance to express his tough side, and tough and resourceful he certainly is. His scenes with Lowe are incredibly poignant and one of his scenes with D'Arcy sums up James's quiet integrity in a subtle yet uncompromising way. Bonnie Wright is also good as a cynical student, as is Daryl Sabara, who provides the occasional comic relief.

After the Dark is an impressively imaginative look at the possibility of a real ending, an ending that knows no bartering, no delay and no easy solution. Still, it is an epilogue that gives us the option to choose our own destiny. The film shows that, no matter what life throws at us, we are wired to live, love and be happy, be it in a bunker, on an island or in a classroom. We have an innate need to laugh and celebrate without the burden of what ifs, hows and whys. What can we do? We are only human.

9/10

Trailerblazing -- The Imitation Game/Stonehearst Asylum/Interstellar

The Imitation Game (2014) -- November 21, 2014 -- directed by Morten Tyldum -- starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Mark Strong

This film about cryptanalyst and mathematician Alan Turing, who had contributed to the end of World War II by breaking the German Enigma code, is long overdue. No regard was paid to what Turing had done for history and for the world when he was prosecuted for homosexuality and convicted of indecency, and it was only last year that he was posthumously granted a pardon by the British government. His life and career make for a fascinating, albeit tragic, story and I am glad to see that Cumberbatch was chosen to portray him, since he does an incredible job with classy and eloquent dramas. He is a subtle yet intense actor, a rare combination that allows him to transform from a Star Trek villain to Sherlock Holmes to real life heroes like Turing. There are some excellent supporting players here -- Matthew Goode, Charles Dance and Mark Strong, to name but a few -- and I have to say that I am also loving Óscar Faura's cinematography. I have only heard good things about Tyldum's previous film Headhunters and noticed that he had several genres in the pipeline, so I expect that he will turn out to be one of those directors that are proficient with any type of tale. I am always interested in riveting true stories and cannot wait for Turing's narrative to take over our screens.  

Stonehearst Asylum (2014) -- release date TBA -- directed by Brad Anderson -- starring Kate Beckinsale, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Caine, Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley
 

Being a huge fan of Brad Anderson's work, I have been excited for this film ever since I first heard about it. Anderson does a great job with scripts that examine the darkest side of human nature -- please check out Session 9 and The Machinist if you have not yet -- and he is the perfect director for bringing Edgar Allan Poe's story about a mysterious asylum to life. This is one of those trailers, however, in which the main plot twist gets revealed, so I do hope that there are other surprises in store. The cast is impressive and the story looks gripping. On a side note, I would personally have preferred it if Stonehearst had stuck with the original title Eliza Graves, but that is a minor gripe. I look forward to any new Brad Anderson film, no matter what it is called.

Interstellar (2014) -- November 7, 2014 -- directed by Christopher Nolan -- starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine   

Calling Interstellar this year's Gravity might feel a little heavy-handed, but I am sure that some have already tried. The film about space explorers that journey through a wormhole looks like it combines the thrill of adventure with the power of metaphors, telling a story about love and aspirations through the lens of science fiction. Having given us such mind-bending films like Memento and Inception, Nolan's next logical frontier is space, and he is accompanied by a terrific cast on the ride. Hathaway's role seems extremely different from her previous ones, while McConaughey and Chastain have never worked with Nolan and frequent collaborator Caine always adds a dimension to the filmmaker's characters. Based on this trailer, it appears that November will bring us another contemplative hit from Nolan, one that is going to be discussed for months and years afterwards.