Movie Review: "A Feral World" (2020)

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Movie: "A Feral World"
Director: David Liban
Year: 2020
Rating: NR
Running Time: 1 hour, 44 minutes

The "post-apocalypse" genre has been a favorite for big-budget studios and independent filmmakers for decades. Maybe it's because using abandoned, dilapidated buildings and limitless desert landscapes make for relatively inexpensive film shoots. Maybe it's because vast tundras devoid of people make excellent cinematic eye candy. Perhaps, it's a little of both. Over the past few years, we have seen numerous small-scale, human-centered stories told in post-apocalyptic settings, including "It Comes at Night" (2017), "The Road" (2009), and "Cargo" (2018). "A Feral World" (2020) also attempts to do the same. The film is written and directed by David Liban, a film professor at CU Denver's College of Arts and Media, who clearly made the movie on a shoestring budget. It was shot over several years. We believe this had more to do with the previously mentioned budget restrictions rather than it being a conscious "Boyhood"-esque artistic choice, but who knows. Liban manages to weave the time delays into his story to his advantage, making it seem intentional as the child actors age in real-time. The story centers on a young boy named Sonny (Caleb Liban, the director's son), who has been orphaned during a global fallout. He soon pairs up with a woman named Emma (Danielle Prall), who has been searching for her daughter, who was abducted from their home during the dissolution of society. Together, they must help each other survive long enough to figure out where Emma's daughter may have been taken.

Caleb Liban and Danielle Prall in "A Feral World." (Image Source)

The apocalypse in "A Feral World" (2020) seems that it was caused by technology gone awry. Tiny, flesh-eating, building-destroying nano-bots appear on-screen as a swarm of insects that look as though they've been yanked straight out of a poorly CGI-ed "made for sci-fi channel movie" or some tech-savvy child's homemade YouTube video. We don't enjoy the prospect of hating on a movie for its graphics, especially when it was so clearly someone's passion project, but the CGI in this movie is really bad. Luckily, the goofy CGI is offset by some competent camerawork. As we mentioned above, it's not hard to make the right landscape look incredible, even when your movie is being made on the cheap. The narrative itself is a simple one as Sonny and Emma form a familial bond while they look for her abducted daughter. They walk, walk, walk, and they talk, talk, talk, and occasionally, they come across other desperate, sometimes violent people who are looking for a fight in this changed world. Eventually, Emma and Sonny come to a point where they may have to save her daughter from the person who snatched her, even if they might get hurt in the process. Unfortunately, we never felt the danger or passion or tension these situations should have held. If a mother is looking for her abducted daughter, we should feel the sadness, rage, and concern that she's feeling. We shouldn't feel bored. The script lacks nuance and emotion, and it feels derivative as a whole. It doesn't help that the characters themselves aren't written with a lot of depth. We're sorry to say it, but the acting in "A Feral World" (2020) comes off as bland and overly-scripted. We know that most of the individuals in this film are not professional actors, and the ones that are aren't very experienced, but for us, the stiffness brought the movie-watching experience down a peg or two.

Drew Barrett plays Maddy in "A Feral World." (Add caption)

We certainly appreciate the effort and the dedication put in by those involved in the making of "A Feral World" (2020), but heart and drive will only get you so far. You still have to engage your audience, and sadly, we just weren't all that captivated by this story. There are a couple of interesting elements that could've worked out had they been explored more in-depth, but overall, the film is seriously lacking.

My Rating: 3/10
BigJ's Rating: 3/10
IMDB's Rating: ~3.2/10
RT Rating: ---%
Do we recommend this movie: AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

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Movie Review: "Terminator: Dark Fate" (2019)

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Movie: "Terminator: Dark Fate"

Director: Tim Miller
Year: 2019
Rating: R
Running Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes

A Terminator gets sent back in time to kill a woman named Dani Ramos, a prominent player in the future that was changed forever by Sarah and John Conner when they destroyed Cyberdine Systems. Now, Grace, an enhanced human from the future, must save Dani from this new Terminator with the help of Sarah Conner herself.

Movie Review: "Firestarter" (1984)

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Movie: "Firestarter"

Director: Mark L. Lester
Year: 1984
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

A telepathic man and his young pyrokinetic daughter are being hunted by a government agency known as "The Shop," who hopes to use their abilities for their own means.

Movie Review: "Ad Astra" (2019)

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Movie: "Ad Astra"

Director: James Gray
Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 3 minutes

Major Roy McBride is tasked with a special mission where he is sent to Mars to attempt to contact his father, who went missing on a mission to Neptune and has been presumed dead for the past 30 years.

Movie Review: "Replicas" (2019)

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Movie: "Replicas"

Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

A scientist working on transferring human consciousness tries to bring his family back to life through his experiments after they all die in a car crash.

Movie Review: "Brightburn" (2019)

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Movie: "Brightburn"

Director: David Yarovesky
Year: 2019
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Toni and Kyle Breyer have been unable to conceive a child. They get the biggest shock of their lives when a spacecraft with what appears to be a human baby crashes on their farm in Brightburn, Kansas. The Breyers take it in and raise it as their own son. The Breyer clan has an ordinary life together until Brandon develops superhuman powers and uses them to hurt those who have wronged him.

Movie Review: "Spider-Man: Far from Home" (2019)

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Movie: "Spider-Man: Far from Home"

Director: Jon Watts
Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes

In a post-snap-and-blip world, Peter Parker is left pondering his position as Spider-Man and what role he wants to take as an Avenger as a new threat emerges to put the world in danger.

Movie Review: "Dark Phoenix" (2019)

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Movie: "Dark Phoenix"
Director: Simon Kinberg
Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes

When running a rescue mission in space, the X-men come into contact with a mysterious energy force that enters Jean Grey. This force gives her immeasurable power, but she struggles to control it, making her a danger to everyone. Matters only get worse when an alien race tries to manipulate Jean as a means of destroying the world.

Movie Review: "Captain Marvel" (2019)

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Movie: "Captain Marvel"

Director: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 4 minutes

A Kree warrior known as Vers chases an alien race of shapeshifters called Skrulls to C-53, AKA earth. Once there, she begins to uncover the truth about a hidden past she didn't know she had.

Movie Review: "Her" (2013)

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Movie: "Her"

Director: Spike Jonze
Year: 2013
Rating: R
Running Time: 2 hours, 6 minutes

A depressed and lonely man in the midst of a divorce finds love with his new artificially intelligent computer operating system.

Movie Review: "Glass" (2019)

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Movie: "Glass"

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes

When 'The Horde' and David Dunn are apprehended by authorities, they are placed in a mental hospital where Mr. Glass is also being held. While at the hospital, psychiatrist Dr. Ellie Staple tries to convince the three of them that they are suffering from delusions and that they don't really have powers. Mr. Glass may be concocting a plan to prove otherwise.

Movie Review: "Bird Box" (2018)

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Movie: "Bird Box"

Director: Susanne Bier
Year: 2018
Rating: R
Running Time: 2 hours, 4 minutes

The world is invaded by creatures of an unknown origin that cause everyone that looks at them to go mad, compelling them to kill themselves. Now, a woman and two children must navigate a post-apocalyptic landscape blindfolded to find one of the few remaining human sanctuaries.

Movie Review: "Bumblebee" (2018)

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Movie: "Bumblebee"

Director: Travis Knight
Year: 2018
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

As a battle rages on Cybertron, Bumblebee, a member of the Autobot resistance, is sent to earth to protect it as a fallback base. When he arrives there, he is attacked and damaged, causing him to lose his memory and his voicebox. He is found by a teenager named Charlie, who befriends him, but when the Decepticons come looking for him, it puts Charlie in danger.

Movie Review: "Escape from New York" (1981)

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Movie: "Escape from New York"

Director: John Carpenter
Year: 1981
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

New York has been turned into a mega prison that lets the inmates run free within its walls. When the President's plane crashes in Manhattan, a convict named Snake Plissken is asked to infiltrate the prison and rescue the POTUS in exchange for a full pardon.

Movie Review: "Starman" (1984)

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Movie: "Starman"

Director: John Carpenter
Year: 1984
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

An extraterrestrial comes to earth and takes the form of a widow's deceased husband and asks for a ride to Arizona so he can return home.

Movie Review: "Ghosts of Mars" (2001)

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Movie: "Ghosts of Mars"

Director: John Carpenter
Year: 2001
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Mars police officers are sent to a mining colony to transport a dangerous criminal back to the city. When they arrive, they are faced with unexpected dangers far more deadly than the criminal they came to collect.

Movie Review: "Village of the Damned" (1995)

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Movie: "Village of the Damned"

Director: John Carpenter
Year: 1995
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

One day, in the small town of Midwich, a strange phenomenon causes all the people within its community to pass out without warning. When they wake up hours later, most of the women of childbearing age are pregnant. When their children are born, it's clear they aren't fully human as they have special powers that threaten all the people of Midwich...and possibly even the world.

Movie Review: "Rabid" (1977)

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Movie: "Rabid"

Director: David Cronenberg
Year: 1977
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

After receiving experimental reconstructive surgery, a woman named Rose develops a mutation and starts to crave human blood. Her victims turn into rabid balls of rage that spread their disease to other hosts who survive their attacks.

Movie Review: "Splinter" (2008)

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Movie: "Splinter"

Director: Toby Wilkins
Year: 2008
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 22 minutes

An escaped convict and his girlfriend take a couple on their way home from a camping trip hostage in their vehicle. When the group comes across a deadly parasite that turns its victims into ravenous zombie-like creatures, they must take shelter in a gas station and find a way to work together so they can survive.

Movie Review: "Astral" (2018)

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Movie: "Astral"

Director: Chris Mul
Year: 2018
Rating: NR
Running Time: 1 hour, 23 minutes

A college student attempts to learn the art of astral projection so he can to communicate with his deceased mother. The practice has unintended side effects as he opens a gateway that allows otherworldy entities into our dimension.