Edge of Extinction (UK 2020: Dir Andrew Gilbert) NEW WAVE OF THE BRITISH FANTASTIC FILM 2020

While post apocalypse films are very popular as subject matter for independent filmmakers, it's often hard to see them as anything other than exercises in grubby men and women charging about the countryside, with some infected people giving chase.

Andrew Gilbert's second feature eschews a lot of the genre standbys in favour of an extended (and at 144 minutes I do mean extended) look at post nuclear de-humanised society in freefall.

We're introduced to a small band of characters who with one exception are without names, to emphasise the erasure of their collective identities. The Boy (Luke Hobson) lives in a building with a well stocked supply cupboard, which we quickly learn, in a time of extreme hardship and hunger, is just asking to be plundered (although personally I'd skip the suggestion of wood pigeon for main course). Through The Boy's memories we learn that it's been fifteen years since the end of a devastating nuclear war across the world; the UK has been spared the worst of the fighting - and the effects of the warheads - but is nevertheless a country where most resources are non existent. Indeed an early scene shows that rival gangs - called 'roadrats', complete with Mad Max style blackened faces - have resorted to cannibalism for their sustenance. The Boy's younger brother has died along the way, as have his parents, murdered by a looter when he was still a child.

On one of his foraging trips The Boy encounters The Girl (Georgie Smibert), who appears to be on her own; but she's been set up as a decoy by her off/on boyfriend called The Man (Chris Kaye) and his gang, who attack The Boy's stash of food. The Boy vows revenge, but instead bumps into, and gets captured by the 'roadrats' under the command of their sadistic leader (Bryn Hodgen) and his deputy, the sleazy Overseer (Neil Summerville). The Chief has already captured a girl for his pleasure, Chloe (Eve Kathryn Oliver), and soon rapes The Girl to assert his dominance. The Boy and The Man must attempt to marshal their forces to free the women and escape the ultra violent gang, before they become the latest delicacy on the menu of the 'roadrats.'

Edge of Extinction's title is, for once, not a hyperbolic one. Gilbert creates a believable world of societal breakdown, in contrast perhaps to the UK's rather polite response to current pandemic events; an early scene of shoppers stockpiling at a supermarket, and being attacked and shot in the car park, is extremely eerie (the director apparently started filming the movie as long ago as 2017 on his free weekends, so could not have predicted the prescience of the scenario). The extent to which the viewer buys into to this world is highlighted in later scenes where the group come across a couple, who live in a clean, modern house in the woods. We realise that until that moment we've been exposed to 90 minutes of grime, dirt and darkness: it's quite a shock.

While we do learn some facts about the main characters in the movie, Gilbert is generally happy for them to be seen as ciphers for the breakdown of society; when people are killed - and the film is often incredibly violent - the audience are encouraged to be as blasé about the deaths as the cast seem to be. The director's aim is to show a desensitised society who have degenerated within a fifteen year timespan, and the impressive use of real, derelict locations, all discovered in the countryside of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, underscores the decay to great effect. Edge of Extinction won't be a film for everyone - it's quite slow and the 'action' is often repetitive. But to conjure such a credible future world on a small budget is quite the feat. Recommended then.

Edge of Extinction is released across all major On Demand and Download platforms from 18 May, with a DVD released later in the year.

I Think We're Alone Now (USA 2018: Dir Reed Morano)

Cinematographer Reed Morano's first directorial offering was the harrowing Meadowland back in 2015. Its sombre tones find some companionship in her latest film (on which she also offers services behind the camera), a post apocalyptic riff on 'Robinson Crusoe.'

Del (Peter Dinklage), who lives in the library where he used to work, before an unspecified event wiped out most of the human race, is methodical in his daily routine of cleaning out houses for spare (canned) food and equipment, marking the streets off with crosses as he completes his forays. Some lovely touches define his situation - watching a series of laptops that he's acquired which successively die as their power fades for example - and in keeping with his former job his life is devoted to the maintenance of order, like using chopsticks to eat food and drinking his wine out of a glass.

But one evening some fireworks let off in another part of the city alert him to the fact that he's not alone, and the search for his 'Man Friday' leads him to Grace (Elle Fanning) who he first meets passed out in a crashed car. His new found friend's rather hedonistic approach to life is in marked contrast to Del's own - he's happy to stay put, while she plans to see all of the country's landmarks - and his initial instinct is to reject her presence, which is too messy and interferes with his routines. When asked whether he feels isolated, the small in stature Des responds that he felt more lonely in a town full of citizens.

But his 'Man Frida' sees through his apparent difference and a relationship of sorts forms between them, with Grace picking up a dog - later released by Des after it chews some of his precious books - and helping him out on his clean up expeditions (in one moving moment happening upon Des's former home, which clearly evokes too many painful memories for him to countenance living there). "With every piece of trash we pick up there's one less case for chaos in the universe," he explains, warding off the threat of entropy, prompting Grace to respond "has anyone ever told you you're a weird guy?" Des's comeback is one of the film's best lines; "Yeah, but they're all dead now."

But a glimpsed vertical scar on Grace's neck, which she keeps covered from Des, alerts us to the fact that all isn't well, and the sudden arrival of a couple (Charlotte Gainsbourg and Paul Giamatti) who both know Grace and want her to return to the west with them - is a massive shock for Des who thought the pair were all alone in the world. It also triggers a crisis of conscience in him. Does Des follow or remain sequestered in his own existence?

Morano's film is, as you would expect, beautifully shot and exquisitely paced, and Des and Grace are well defined characters despite just a few brushstrokes of descriptive dialogue. The casting is excellent; Dinklage's permanently furrowed brow and solemn expression instantly denotes a depth of thought and melancholy, in contrast with the tall, willowy but equally unhappy Fanning, her girl/woman features perfect for the role.

The film lets itself down slightly with a denouement which is perhaps more The Stepford Wives than it should be, but for the most part this is a satisfying exercise in the pleasure and pain of isolation, and ultimately a plea for the right to be miserable. Really, really good.

The Survivalist (UK 2015: Dir Stephen Fingleton)

Stephen Fingleton's sci-fi film - his first feature - is that rare thing, a movie which communicates predominantly visually rather than via exposition, yet manages to convey important ideas about humanity and our ability to cope and adapt in the face of catastrophe.

Martin McCann plays the unnamed Survivalist, all skin, bones and animal wariness, who has carved out an existence in the years following an unspecified disaster (although we know from the clever opening titles shown by way of a two line graph that this catastrophe has been triggered by a sudden fall in oil production mixed with over population). He lives in a woodland hut and has become largely self sufficient, even down to manufacturing a form of oil for his lamps. He is ruthless in despatching anyone who threatens his solitude, burying their bodies for compost - he is also incredibly lonely, masturbating over photographs belonging to those he has killed.

Into this Robinson Crusoe-like existence appear Kathryn and her young daughter Milja, looking for food and shelter. Kathryn offers seeds and later Milja herself in exchange for sustenance and a roof over their head. The Survivalist's initial reticence gradually thaws as he enjoys regular sex with the young girl, but the three remain wary of each other - any one of them is capable of violence it seems - and lead a largely silent existence.

The backdrop to the formation of this uneasy family is the forest itself, verdant and tranquil yet containing hidden dangers in the shape of potential (and actual) assailants. The woodland is timeless and constant - as we watch it we're almost convinced that nothing has happened until we see the pitiful figures foraging within it. The rather staggering realisation that humanity has reduced itself to this existence (and in a later scene, a much worse one) in only a few short years since the catastrophe has taken place, as the eye is comforted by the green depths of the forest, is chilling.

As the film progresses rivalries develop, and the relative calm of the Survivalist's life is shattered - in fact we're now not sure to whom the film's title refers. In an environment of want and meagre resources, survival becomes paramount, and the film ends on a note which offers a possibility of hope and also a re-appraisal of what we've just witnessed.

The Survivalist is perhaps a more brutal and honest version of the 1975 BBC TV series Survivors - it's surely no coincidence that the titles are similar. Yet while that television drama often recalled the more cosy self sufficiency tactics of The Good Life, The Survivalist behaves rather like an adult version of Lord of the Flies. This is a strong, assured debut from Stephen Fingleton, with top notch acting turns from McCann, Olwen Fouere as Kathryn and the wraith like Mia Goth as Milja (who was so impressive in Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac: Vol. 2). Filmed in natural light and with no soundtrack, The Survivalist feels honest and bold - very, very impressive stuff.