Review

Set ten years after an undefined apocalypse five survivors are trudging through the Ontario wilderness seeking food and shelter. Seems they have a larger group on their trail and have to keep moving. Unfortunately one of the group, Henson, appears to have a bad dose of the flu or worse and needs rest and relaxation. There's some bickering about whether or not they should find a place to shelter and eventually the group run across an isolated farmhouse that has good line of sight and such.

The group check no one is at home and settle in to their new digs. The two gals in the group, Mary and Shannon, are sent out to check the perimeter while the two mobile blokes, Adam and Rick, explore the house's basement. They think they have discovered a stash of food but it proves to be a baited trap with a local group of cannibals ready to answer the dinner bell. With night descending the five survivors button down the hatches, lock and load, and prepare to hold off a horde of savages. A fairly brutal movie ensues.

From the windswept and thunder clad first frames featuring five people walking in the rain on some unknown back road Director Douglas Aarniokoski never relinquishes his view of a desolate landscape and a feeling his survivors are only one step away from giving up. The immediate major surprise for first time viewers is the feature is filmed in black and white, adding to the derelict feeling of the movie. There's a tangible atmosphere of rot and decay that helps to highlight we're in a post apocalyptic wasteland, nothing is going to be pretty and there isn't going to be anything to lighten the load on the viewer. Which is pretty much as it should be, though to be honest I was waiting on the local savages to show up, it's that sort of a movie where you know a siege is going to feature heavily in proceedings. To his credit Aarniokoski does immediately raise tension with the survivors finding an isolated farm house and checking for inhabitants. The immediate concern for our folks is the limited supply of ammunition and the lack of food, but hey they do have seeds which provides the thin veneer of hope needed to keep them going.

There's an almost dream like Tim Burton feel to the first block of the movie that underlines we are in a surreal nightmare that isn't going to finish well. Our survivors find solace in the small things, take time to think about the past, and otherwise seem to be simply going through the motions. Quiet desperation comes to mind with one member of the group clearly knowing more about the location than the others. Aarniokoski uses his frames excellently to set up the relationships between the survivors and the situation they are in. Notably Ashley Bell, who came to prominence in The Last Exorcism, is carrying the acting through an understated performance that hints at the violence that is promised through the slow build up that brings an understated feeling of menace to the movie. When the action kicks off its violent with Aarniokoski taking no prisoners, this movie isn't for those who want a teen orientated flick. The Day has more in common with John Hillcoat's waking nightmare The Road than Mad Max 2, the atmosphere is thick enough to cut with a machete. I was generally shocked by the first death; it's unexpected and brutal in a sort of backwoods massacre style.

One of the best movies of its sort to be released this decade, guess no one was getting the sub themes judging from internet whinging about the flick.

Henson, who is on the brink of death through the first block of the movie, shows remarkable recovery ability in the second block as the cannibals arrive for their anticipated fresh meat meal. Aarniokoski doesn't hold back, the violence rocks on like a midnight train through the rural hinterland with a no holds bar approach. Life is short and brutal in this world but decidedly without much in the way of internal logic. Ashley Bell almost single handily saves her group from the initial onslaught but naturally there has to be a group dynamic to flesh out, see what I did there, the background and the full situation. For no apparent reason a torture scene is injected into the movie to little effect, the survivors take time out for some fun and games while they should be running for the hills.

Where the strengths of the movie shine through is in the underlying themes as the survivors cling to their humanity and friendship in the face of the brutality that descends upon them. Adam in particular has to go through a personal nightmare to recapture his humanity ably helped by Mary who is on a revenge trip. Of the entire group Mary is the one best placed to survive the ordeal that hangs over the first two blocks of the movie like a vulture circling a dying creature in the desert, the character grows towards a new awareness as the movie rocks to its shocking conclusion.

The final block of the movie does of course head into siege territory which brings to mind Night of the Living Dead or any number of Westerns. However Aarniokoski is unflinching in his dedication to the brutality. When the cannibals walk towards the farm house out of a back lit mist you know the hammer is going to go down in uncompromising fashion. Surprisingly the leader of our cannibal militia, who seem to have a lack of firepower, shows a paternal aspect that goes someway to raising the character above the average Humungus Load of the Wasteland that we are normally exposed to in this sub genre.

With the siege raging, and it's a ripper, the illogic aspects of the movie resurrect themselves in fairly demented fashion. Henson naturally has a relapse after his sudden recovery in the second block of the movie and for all the talk of saving their ammunition the survivors open up like an American platoon cut off behind enemy lines in a Second World War movie.

Perhaps the worse is held back to the penultimate scene that sinks things to a slasher level and which remains the most face palming aspect of the movie. While Mary rediscovers her humanity it comes at a huge price, but importantly Mary isn't losing any of her survival instincts, something the other female in the group loses sight of as she battles the smallest of the cannibal horde. I could have done without the slasher conventions intruding, but guess Aarniokoski is nothing if not dedicated to keeping the savagery coming at us.

Rock Mafia provide an at times poignant score that underlines the desperation and desolation the world has to offer. From piano driven sequences to soaring keyboard effects the score matches the look and feel of the visuals we are experiencing.

Overall I was rocking out to the movie sent my way, The Day is the best post apocalyptic journey I've been on since Neil Marshall sent Doomsday in my direction. Okay there were a few weak spots but what the heck the themes and overall visuals kept me jiving to Aarniokoski's beat. Full recommendation folks, however the proviso is that things are brutal and nihilistic. The Day forces us to face our own humanity and to a certain extent that is the whole point of the movie. Be prepared for a couple of twists in the plot, the Director simply doesn't want to deliver any happy endings. Ashley Bell once again proves why she is a hot property in the horror market place currently, a stunning and gritty performance helps raise the movie to memorable status.