These Final Hours

Wow, I was taken by surprise with this one. What a beautiful film! This may well be the best apocalyptic film I have seen.. The film was loaded with great imagery and concepts from the very start... I believe it had its own unique take on the apocalypse which was terrifying and believable.. There is a great unique narration as the film progresses that lets you in on how little time is left.. The acting was superb from the two leads, even the child actress was fantastic.... The film made me think how important any meeting or bond can be between us humans regardless of time... This film deserves your attention and to do well... Overall: Beautiful. Add it to your watch list its one of the best films I've watched this year....

Marketed as an end-of-days thriller, this Aussie production is better described as a sombre, thought- provoking drama that just so happens to precede an impending apocalypse. Nathan Phillips plays a self-obsessed man intent on spending his remaining time on Earth under the influence of cocaine, alcohol and self-pity. After he saves a young girl (Angourie Rice – amazing) from an unspeakable act, though, he reluctantly allows her to tag along and his journey takes a new shape. Played as a two hander between Phillips and Rice, who share remarkable chemistry together, These Final Hours is outstanding. Their unique partnership is built so carefully, intelligently and organically over the course of the movie that when their affecting and poignant climactic moment arrives, it is completely earned. Writer-director Zak Hilditch errs with his supporting players though, particularly in the middle act where we're introduced to three outlandish, imbecilic and downright aggravating characters, all of which are overplayed to the hilt by local actors. That this sequence is at least 20 minutes long is a huge misstep from Hilditch, but thankfully it doesn't spoil the overall progression of the central relationship. Bonnie Elliott's cinematography deserves a special mention too; her Perth is searing, grimy and harsh, yet somehow entirely beautiful at the same time. A flawed but worthy film that deserves to be on your 'to see' list.

If you are still seeing anything above a 4 on these ratings, then you are being duped by staff. These Final Hours is just a blatant waste of money, time and resources, I cannot figure out why it was even made when you have nothing new to add, and there are so many far superior apocalyptic themed movies, I shake my head. The acting was lame and unrealistic at best, it was like a pack of new grads going for an Oscar in every scene, but clearly missing the mark on their delivery, the female roles were particularly annoying and over the top, lacking vision, and direction. I would like to add that the young girl was probably the shred of decency in this film, although, it's a bit like saying the radio works in an otherwise wrecked car. Trying to shoot an end of the world drama on a low budget is almost an impossible task on a low budget, I rest my case right there. The outdoor scenes were few and far between, mostly tightly cropped vision of tree tops, only one long shot of a skating center car park, which they were clearly chuffed about and used as long as they could, close up of houses, some burnt out cars, but in other areas, seemingly unaffected suburbia. And of course, as in every cheap ass Aussie flick, the car of choice is a 1970s Ford falcon, even in 2014(hmmm okay)and the obligatory gratuitous sex scene with the male ass going for it right at the start. The plot was not believable, rest of the world was wiped out except for Australia (by a number of hours) and yet, so many had apparently chosen to kill themselves and their families on a lovely sunny day before anything had actually happened, yeh right. Yet, others were sitting around drinking wine, smoking cigarettes chatting about family like nothing was happening. There was no consistency, and I was reminded of this poor attempt at convincing me it was really happening thru the whole film. It completely failed to attach any emotion, while films like 'The Road' still stay with me years later. There was one scene where the young girl was being kidnapped by some suburban bogans, and it became a personal dilemma to rescue her, or take the car, and that was the only time we cared as a viewer, rest of the time I was ready for it to finish, just a train wreck. I shudder to think why in so many contemporary Aussie movies recently, we are displayed as utter dickheads, singlet wearing, ute driving, raping, brainless, mad max type, drunken useless drug taking scum. Why do film makers want to project that representation of Australian culture, it's boring and no longer shocking or artistic, just cheap and easy to replicate bogans.

source: These Final Hours