Review of After the Dark (2013) by Paritoch M — 08 May 2014

"WHO TO SAVE DURING AN APOLCALYSPE".

- 'After the Dark' (The Philosophers) is a 2013 psychological sci-fi thriller written and directed by John Huddles. When I saw the trailer, I knew that this would be my kind of movie. I'm really into social experiments dealing with students locked in a secure place. The whole storyline is an experiment; forget about logic and use your imagination. It deals with the question 'who is important to rebuild humanity after an apocalypse'. At first the choices the students make, are based on their logical thinking, but later on decisions are made by using instinct and emotions. And then there's the teacher who always acts as the loose cannon. I loved the idea that was presented, but I'm no fan of the ending. Some scenes are stretched too long. Typical is that all of the genius philosophy students are looking like models... Starring Sophie Lowe (Road Train, The Clinic), Rhys Wakefield (The Black Balloon, The Purge), James D'Arcy (An American Haunting, Cloud Atlas) and Bonnie Wright (Harry Potter Saga). Who would you save?

Jakarta International school - Philosophy teacher Mr. Zimit (D'Arcy) holds a final thinking exercise on the last day of school. Each of his twenty students is given a paper with a profession on it. In the experiment, a apocalypse is about the destroy the world. Mr. Zimit and his class are near a bunker, that provides safety for a whole year, but only for ten people. He wants to know who is allowed in the bunker.

The class decides to vote. Each student tells them what profession they have in order to select people who are suited to rebuild civilization. They also must keep in mind that the world needs to be repopulated. As A-student Petra (Lowe) is an engineer and her boyfriend James (Wakefield) is an organic farmer, they are chosen by vote to go inside. Some of the students are not selected because they are an opera singer, a housewife, a soldier or a ice-cream salesman. As the last student tells them he is a poet, Mr. Zimit takes out a gun and kills him. Everyone is shocked, but then the teacher explains that there is no need for poets to rebuild the world. Zimit plays a loose cannon, who has a gun and demands his place inside the bunker. He also executes everyone who is not allowed to go in. By profiling himself as a dangerous person, the other nine decide to lock him out. But then Mr. Zimit, who is standing on the other side of the glass door, shows them the paper with his profession: he built the bunker and is the only one who knows the code to get out of it...

Because the first experiment failed, the class has a second attempt. But now certain things are added to their profession. Things that might be important to chose differently this time. James is still a organic farmer, but he's gay. Georgina (Wright) is a surgeon, but has been in contact with the Ebola Virus. Bonnie is a soldier, but has a eidetic memory. Chips is a carpenter, but is sterile. Who will be allowed in this time?