These Final Hours
Starring: Nathan Phillips, Angourie Rice, Lynette Curran
Directed By: Zak Hilditch
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi
[Rating: 4/5]
In the last decade or so, Australia has not released many films with a sci-fi twist, everything on display either seems to be based on the country’s history, its criminal element or a hard-hitting emotionally crippling drama that leaves you in the foetal position for a good week after seeing the film. The only movie with a sci-fi twist (besides various straight-to-DVD horrors) that comes to memory is 2010’s Tomorrow, When the War Began based on a young adult series about teenagers surviving through a third world war. A change appears to be in the air, though, as Australian cinema seems to be veering away from the traditional historical, criminal, straight drama elements and embracing different forms of story, like the more comedic and light-hearted but still emotionally devastating The Sapphires (2012) and Red Dog (2011). This year the industry seems to be taking another chance on something new in the form of Sci-Fi drama These Final Hours. So, will this new branching out lead to a new age of meaningful genre story-telling for Australian cinema, or will this film bite it so hard that it ruins any further chance on the industry embracing something different?
These Final Hours is set in an Australia that has lost all hope. They have been lied to about the success of missions to stop a meteor that has been heading towards earth and the final months they’ve had to live have left the country in a hellish state of despair. The asteroid is just about to hit and everyone is losing hope, Perth will be one of the last places in the globe destroyed and the clock is ticking with only 12 hours left. James (Nathan Phillips) doesn’t want to feel a thing, he has left the potential love of his life, Zoe (Jessica De Gouw), to go numb himself with booze, sex and drugs at his crazed drug-dealer friend Freddy’s (Daniel Henshall) ‘End of the World’ party where he hopes to spend his last few hours screwing his crazed girlfriend Vicky (Kathryn Beck). Things don’t quite work out the way James planned, though, as a Machete wielding psycho forces him into a situation where he finds himself looking after a sweet, innocent girl named Rose (Angourie Rice). James must decide if he wants to spend his final hours partying the rest of his life away, or do something meaningful and help this little girl find her father before the world comes to an end.
You know earlier how I mentioned that Australian films have a penchant to create hard-hitting emotionally crippling dramas that leave you in the foetal position for a week after seeing them? Yeah, this is most definitely one of those films. Writer/Director Zak Hilditch has crafted a beautiful, meaningful film filled with shocking imagery and truly gut-wrenching set-pieces that manage to ask the audience all the right questions while never revealing too many of the answers. This film wants to make you think about these questions and wants you to feel the true emotional weight of such decisions. It is a testament to Hilditch how a film with such overt messages and imagery that truly embraces the over-the-top hedonistic nature of society without shying away from the violence still manages to have those necessary, painfully restrained emotional moments that tug at the heart strings. In particular the final scene between James and his distant mother (Lynette Curran).
Nathan Phillips here does a phenomenal job of carrying the film. He embodies the character of James, who at times can be a true dickhead, and manages to make this terribly flawed character likeable and coerces the audience to truly care about his final redemption. Balancing him out is the fantastic child actress Angourie Rice who plays off of Phillips beautifully and truly manages to capture the essence of childhood innocence which threatens to be corrupted. This being her first feature, it’s not hard to believe she will have a fantastic acting career ahead of her. Honourable mentions go to the wonderful Lynette Curran who shares one of the film’s most devastating scenes with Phillips as James’ Mother.
As affecting as the film is, it is not without its flaws. A few suspect choices of music and technical editing decisions start to hold this film back from reaching its full potential. As far as the story itself goes, at times you can’t help but wonder if James’ story here is just serving as a glue or catalyst for all of these other haunting moments. As if Hilditch had all of these fantastic ideas for heart-wrenching scenes based around the end of the world and simply crafted James’ story around implementing these moments rather than crafting moments to serve the story of James himself.
This all said These Final Hours is a riveting and emotionally impactful Australian film that deserves to find success at the box-office both nationally and internationally. I can only hope it does, so that the Industry continues to take risks on meaningful, entertaining genre films like this one. If you find yourself looking for a captivating film that will make you want to hug all of your friends and family afterwards, definitely add These Final Hours to your must-see list.
