The camera focuses on a single shoe, a child’s shoe, which is lying in the middle of an empty road. It casts a shadow on the tarmac. We can feel the intensity of the sun and its glare. Could the shoe have been flung from a car window or perhaps thrown by an angry toddler from the pavement? Who knows? We don’t, not yet. The camera gets closer, and we can see that there are spots of red on the toe of the shoe – blood. Then we realise that what we thought was shadow on the road is something different. The colour changes from deep purple to dark red. We start to feel the tension. The camera widens its focus and we understand that the street is completely empty. There is no one on the pavement. Nothing moves, not even an old crisp bag or a leaf in the breeze. And then the silence hits us, and we shiver. This is how Sam Pickering’s new disaster movie opens, and the shivers don’t stop there; the film is full of very scary moments. In my opinion, this is a very special film, and I’m going to use a word that doesn’t figure often in my vocabulary. I think it’s a masterpiece.

The effect of this amazing film depends on shock and surprise, so I do not intend to say much more about the plot beyond the fact that it is very clever and very frightening. I’m not the sort of person who suffers from nightmares but after seeing Final, my sleep was uneasy for several nights. Pickering manages to touch us in all the most sensitive places and plays on our deepest fears. I defy anyone to leave the cinema with a smile on their faces. It’s definitely not a feel-good film.

Final benefits from having a superb cast, led by Oscar® winner Brian Sneddon as the retired police captain and Faye Hunter as his troubled teenage daughter. There is a particularly tender scene between the two of them after the death of Brian’s wife, Zena. However, for me, the biggest pull of the film is the use of advanced special effects. I cannot praise them enough. They are clever, magical, memorable and, most importantly, used in a way that carries the message of the film forward, not, as happens so often these days, an added extra. Through the camera’s eyes, we see the power and majesty of nature from the depth of a tsunami to drought-besieged deserts, and yet this still cannot match the destructive power of man.

Do not wait to see this film on DVD. It demands to be seen on the big screen and if it doesn’t claim a whole shelf of awards this coming year, I shall walk barefoot through the desert. No, on second thoughts, considering the subject matter of the film, maybe not! But seriously, this is one film NOT to be missed. It’s an education, a visual feast and a true masterpiece.

1 The writer’s initial understanding about the shoe was inaccurate. T/F
2 There are no people to be seen in the town when the film opens. T/F
3 The film has a happy ending. T/F
4 The special effects are used to help convey the message of the film. T/F
5 The star of the film has never won an award before. T/F
6 The film’s message is that natural forces are more destructive than humans. T/F

funtic20    1   20.05.2020 08:22    75