By Keri O’Shea
The question ‘what would you do if you only had hours to live?’ is one that we’ve probably all considered at some point; of course, the world ends for individuals all the time, but in terms of some grand event, whether it’s the four-minute warning (alright, that’s shorter still), the biblical apocalypse or that ol’ favourite the zombie outbreak – whatever the imagined cause might be, however likely it might be, people often like to ponder how they’d behave. These Final Hours doesn’t, actually, opt for any of the above potential reasons for the planet as a whole to check out, but it spends its time on that question nonetheless. Whilst the outcome for the main protagonists doesn’t go in for shocks, neither does the film amble down a Hollywood blockbuster route which has set outcomes and box-ticking, which makes for an altogether more engaging story. I suppose you could say that this film does exactly what it says on the tin, albeit crafting a story and characters that are never boring, whilst showing some flair and ingenuity in its (just) pre-apocalyptic vision along the way too.
The sight of an asteroid roaring down to Earth in the opening scenes tells us all we need to know about the oncoming disaster overtaking the planet. Via a droll, matter-of-fact radio commentator (who acts like a voiceover in some respects) we learn that in just twelve hours, Australia will be destroyed – like most of the rest of the world has already. No possibilities of being saved, no governmental procedure, no evacuation plans, nothing – only a planet which is about to be, as a character later has it, ‘peeled’ when the resultant wall of fire hits. In one of the film’s best decisions, however, this hasn’t led to absolute anarchy on the streets. Certainly, things are strange. The religious folk cluster in small groups awaiting Heaven, those who can’t face what is coming have taken their lives and the decadent are doing whatever they want, but what you mostly notice about the streets is that they’re eerily quiet – which makes the odd, unexpected incursion more shocking.
About to navigate these strange streets is James (Nathan Phillips of Wolf Creek). Refusing to stay put with his girlfriend and await what’s coming, his big plan’s to see out the end of the world at a massive party being hosted by some friends. She wants to enjoy the view of flames rolling over the sea; he fears his inevitable death will be painful, and yearns for something to take the edge off. In the end, and as many might in his situation, James puts himself first, getting into his car and driving away. The journey’s a nightmare; whilst there aren’t crowds to contend with, it only takes one unhinged guy with a weapon to put a crimp in your day, so James can’t take the direct route – and along the road he ends up on, he sees a group of men kidnapping a little girl. Hedonist he may be, but James can’t let this happen and rescues her from what seems to be pair of paedophiles getting their last kicks now that the world has looked the other way for the last time. The girl, Rose (Angourie Rice) is disorientated and scared, but pleads with James to help her find her dad, as they’d gotten separated but swore to one another that they’d be together at the end. James’s conscience gets the better of him. They leave together.
In the wrong hands, this could have been the recipe for a cloying, tedious tale of boundless sentimentality; that whole idea of a child bringing out the best in someone during a crisis has of course been done and done horribly on screen, repulsing any hope of veracity or emotional realism simply to ‘aahhhhh’ at a kid, before landing us with a contrived happy ending because nothing bad is allowed to happen to children in filmland. Full credit to director Zak Hilditch for avoiding these pitfalls. Firstly, James as a character isn’t transformed as if by magic by the presence of a little girl, and he actively rails against his new role as a protector in ways which feel legit and understandable, given that we as an audience are first being asked to accept him as a certain type of person. Secondly, the casting of Angourie Rice is spot on; at no point does she turn out to be saccharin; she acts her part believably and grows as a character rather than being a plot device and nothing more complex. Her relationship with the man who has saved her from who only knows what agony, at least in the short term, is an organic one and you can appreciate them each growing to depend on the other as the story progresses. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, because Rose is permitted to be a proper character, we have so much more invested in our main characters as a whole. That lack of sentimentality is rewarded.
In keeping with this, Hilditch’s boldness in sticking to his guns is rewarded with a tale which is at times hard to watch, though ultimately redemptive; that isn’t because it ducks out of its plot line to save the great and the good, but rather the opposite. The bunker scene, for instance, is used brilliantly to reject what would otherwise be an orthodox get-out-clause for the plot. By this stage in the game, James laughs at his friends’ stupidity; he’s growing and changing as a person. Whilst you can’t blame those who have found their own solutions to their fears, be they mindless drug binges or the ‘sure and certain hope of the Resurrection’, James is always interesting to watch because of the subtle way he alters during the course of the narrative – and it’s a pleasure to see Nathan Phillips showing how well he can act in this challenging role which does a lot more for him than some of his recent work. At times, his and Rose’s trip together can feel repetitive because a lot of people have found the same way out (cue lots of instances of people turning up already dead) but what happens to them matters, which make the closing scenes of this film – and each of their scenes – absolutely standalone.
These Final Hours may not really be a horror film but it’s undeniably bleak, accomplished and well-made. End of the world movies are nothing new, sure, but this is a very polished example indeed, with good performances and the courage of its convictions, a film where the apocalypse itself is the context for considering some very human questions and needs against a striking backdrop of burgeoning chaos. Again, perhaps that’s been done before too, but These Final Hours still has much to say in a style of its own. This is one of those films, frankly, that I didn’t realise I’d enjoyed as much as I had until I sat down to write it up. From that, you can tell that it does enough to stay with you, long after the credits roll.
These Final Hours gets a UK release on 22nd January 2016.