The Last Survivors

Last updated • 5 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The Last Survivors
The Last Survivors Poster.png
Directed byThomas Hammock
Written by
  • Jacob Forman
  • Thomas Hammock
Produced by
  • Seth Caplan
  • Chris Harding
Starring
CinematographySeamus Tierney
Edited by
Music byCraig Deleon
Production
company
Federighi Films
Release date
  • June 12, 2014 (2014-06-12)(LAFF)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Last Survivors (original title The Well) is a 2014 American post-apocalyptic film directed by Thomas Hammock and written by Hammock and Jacob Forman. It stars Haley Lu Richardson, Booboo Stewart, Nicole Fox, Jacqueline Emerson, Max Charles, Michael Welch and Rena Owen. [1] Set in Oregon, the film revolves around a dystopian world with a shortage of water.

Contents

Plot

Ten years after rain ceases to fall, Oregon has turned into a dry wasteland. Survivors spend their time desperately trying to locate enough water to stay alive and avoiding hostile scavengers. Kendal takes care of fellow orphan Dean, who is near death from kidney failure. Her friend Gabriel, who lives on a nearby farm, urges her to join him, but she refuses to abandon Dean. One day, after hearing a cry for help on their two-way radio, Kendal leaves to assist the caller. She finds that it is a trap to ensnare the family's neighbors. Kendal hides as marauders kill off the remaining family members, unable to save them, then sneaks back to her house in the dark.

As the local wells go dry, Dean theorizes that a local warlord, Carson, has drilled to the aquifer and is draining everyone's water supply. Carson owns a small compound that he advertises as a safe haven. Kendal's neighbor Grace, after her well goes dry, tells Kendal that she has accepted Carson's offer to join him. Grace urges Kendal to accompany her and Gabriel, as she believes Carson has medicine that can help Dean. Kendal remains skeptical and hides when Carson arrives. Carson abruptly kills Gabriel's entire family, saying that everyone but Gabriel is either too old or infirm to save based on the limited amount of water available. Though horrified, Gabriel reluctantly agrees and turns in a relative who was also hiding. Kendal escapes after killing a sentry.

Kendal checks on Alby, a young boy who lives on his own. She tells him of Dean's plan to escape via a Cessna that has been almost fully repaired; all they need is the proper distributor cap. However, Alby says he is better able to survive on his own and asks her not to visit him so often, as it attracts Carson's attention. After finally recovering the proper distributor cap from a car in Carson's compound, Kendal returns home again, only to find that three survivors have wandered onto their property in search of water. Dean convinces Kendal to donate water to them, though Kendal remains suspicious of their intentions. When they return shortly afterward, her suspicions are confirmed as they seek to steal the remaining water. Dean, barely able to walk, shoots them before they can kill Kendal.

Drawn by the sound of gunshots as he surveys the local farms, Carson investigates. Dean kills several of Carson's men before they kill him. After killing one of his men, who has become wounded and thus a liability, Carson expresses regret that he is not able to save more of the survivors. His lieutenant, a man in priest's garb, reassures him that what they do is for the greater good. Kendal once again escapes after hiding from Carson's men and retrieves a katana from one the graves at Grace's farm. Now armed, she returns to the house and kills the men left behind to search it, including the priest and Gabriel, whose identity was obscured by a mask.

When Kendal checks on Alby to invite him to escape with her on the Cessna, she discovers Carson has abducted him. She attacks Carson's compound and kills all his henchmen. When only Kendal, Carson, his daughter, and Alby remain, Carson attacks Kendal, who kills him with the katana. Brooke, Carson's daughter, nearly defeats Kendal by putting her in a choke hold. Kendal breaks free just before passing out and stabs Brooke with the sword. She and Alby go to the Cessna and, after inserting the distributor cap, start it up. As they board the plane, Alby asks about Dean, and Kendal says that he is staying behind.

Cast

Production

A trained dancer, Richardson performed most of her own stunts in the film. She said the producers were "half-impressed and half-worried" by her enthusiasm for the stuntwork. [2] Shooting took place in California City, California, over the course of a month in 2012. [3]

Release

The Last Survivors premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 12, 2014. [4] It was released on DVD in the UK on May 4, 2015, [5] and in the US on August 4. [2]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports that 75% of 12 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.33/10. [6] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Tom Hammock's conscientiously crafted feature gets great mileage from a unique setting and some strong screen performances." [7] Bob Strauss of the Los Angeles Daily News called the film unoriginal but praised both Hammock's direction and Richardson's acting. [8] James Rocchi of Indiewire rated it A− and wrote that it "has a stunningly well-designed sense of place". [9] J. R. Southall of Starburst rated it 4/10 stars and, in comparing it negatively to The Hunger Games, wrote, "Taking itself too seriously without providing enough reason for the audience to follow suit, this is ultimately an interesting and pretty but rather vacuous failure." [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Sole Survivor</i> (1984 film) 1984 American film

Sole Survivor is a 1984 American horror film written and directed by Thom Eberhardt, in his feature film debut. The film received mixed reviews.

<i>Mirrors</i> (2008 film) 2008 American film

Mirrors is a 2008 American supernatural horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, and Amy Smart. The film was first titled Into the Mirror, but the name was later changed to Mirrors. Filming began on May 1, 2007, and it was released in American theaters on August 15, 2008.

<i>You Cant Believe Everything</i> 1918 film

You Can't Believe Everything is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Gloria Swanson. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it is likely to be a lost film.

<i>Dread</i> (film) 2009 British film

Dread is a 2009 British horror film directed and written by Anthony DiBlasi and starring Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Evans and Hanne Steen, based on the short story of the same name by Clive Barker. The story was originally published in 1984 in volume two of Barker's Books of Blood short story collections.

<i>The Maze Runner</i> 2009 novel by James Dashner

The Maze Runner is a 2009 dystopian novel by American author James Dashner. It takes place in a world suffering from a coronal mass ejection and whose surviving civilians fight to avoid an apocalyptic illness called the Flare. It is written from the perspective of Thomas, a 16-year-old boy who wakes up with no memories inside an artificially produced maze. An organization called WICKED controls the world politically, seeks a cure to the Flare, and uses the youngest generation of civilians who are immune to it as test subjects.

<i>Titanic II</i> (film) 2010 film by Shane Van Dyke

Titanic II is a 2010 American drama disaster film written, directed by and starring Shane Van Dyke and distributed by The Asylum. Despite the title, it is not a sequel to the 1997 critically acclaimed film, but is a mockbuster of it. The film is set on a fictional replica Titanic that sets off exactly 100 years after the original ship's maiden voyage to perform the reverse route, but global warming and the forces of nature cause history to repeat itself on the same night, only on a more disastrous and deadly scale.

<i>Stake Land</i> 2010 American horror film

Stake Land is a 2010 American post apocalyptic vampire horror film directed by Jim Mickle and starring Nick Damici, who cowrote the script with Mickle. It also stars Connor Paolo, Danielle Harris and Kelly McGillis. The plot revolves around an orphaned young man being taken under the wing of a vampire hunter known only as "Mister", and the battle for survival in their quest for a haven.

<i>Hell</i> (2011 film) 2011 film

Hell is a 2011 German-Swiss post-apocalyptic film directed by Tim Fehlbaum in his directorial debut. The German-language screenplay was written by Fehlbaum, Oliver Kahl and Thomas Woebke. The experienced director Roland Emmerich, known for films such as Independence Day and 2012, acted as executive producer, with Gabriele Walther and Wöbke acting as producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haley Lu Richardson</span> American actress (born 1995)

Haley Lu Richardson is an American actress and dancer. Following early television roles on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2013) and the ABC Family supernatural drama Ravenswood (2013–2014), she acted in the coming-of-age film The Edge of Seventeen (2016) and the psychological horror film Split (2016).

<i>Z Nation</i> Post-apocalyptic horror series on Syfy

Z Nation is an American horror television series that aired on Syfy, created by Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler, and was produced by The Asylum. The first season of 13 episodes premiered on September 12, 2014. Z Nation was filmed in the Spokane, Washington, area.

Gabriel Stokes (<i>The Walking Dead</i>) Fictional character

Father Gabriel Stokes is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and is portrayed by Seth Gilliam in the television series of the same name. He is an Episcopal priest from Georgia who isolated himself from the outside world at the beginning of the outbreak, after shutting out the members of his congregation, causing their deaths. He is struggling to come to terms with the new reality he faces and his own faith.

<i>Turbo Kid</i> 2015 film by François Simard

Turbo Kid is a 2015 post-apocalyptic superhero film written and directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell. The film stars Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Edwin Wright, Aaron Jeffery, and Romano Orzari. The film follows the adventures of a teenage comic book fan turned superhero in an alternate 1997 post-apocalyptic Earth where water is scarce. He teams up with a mysterious girl and an arm-wrestling cowboy to stop a tyrannical warlord. Epic Pictures Group released the film in the United States on August 28.

<i>Kristy</i> (film) 2014 American film

Kristy is a 2014 American horror thriller film directed by Oliver Blackburn and starring Haley Bennett, Chris Coy, Mike Seal, Lucius Falick and Ashley Greene. The plot follows a college student who stays on campus alone over Thanksgiving break and finds herself terrorized by a cult of ritual killers. The film premiered on October 14, 2014, at the London Film Festival and also had theatrical releases internationally. In the United States, the film debuted on Lifetime on October 17, 2015, and was released on Netflix on November 5, 2015.

<i>Dont Kill It</i> 2016 American film

Don't Kill It is a 2016 American comedy horror film directed and edited by Mike Mendez. Written by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, it stars Dolph Lundgren as Jebediah Woodley, a demon hunter who travels to Mississippi in the hopes of destroying an ancient, homicidal demon. Kristina Klebe, Tony Bentley, James Chalke, and Miles Doleac appear in supporting roles.

<i>I Think Were Alone Now</i> (film) 2018 American film

I Think We're Alone Now is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic romance drama film directed by Reed Morano, who also acted as cinematographer, and written by Mike Makowsky. It stars Peter Dinklage and Elle Fanning as two survivors who learn to live together after a worldwide pandemic wipes out Earth's population.

<i>Columbus</i> (2017 film) 2017 American film

Columbus is a 2017 American drama film written, and directed by Kogonada in his feature directorial debut. The film stars John Cho as the son of a renowned architecture scholar who gets stranded in Columbus, Indiana and strikes up a friendship with a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library. Michelle Forbes, Rory Culkin, and Parker Posey appear in supporting roles.

"Dead or Alive Or" is the eleventh episode of the eighth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on March 11, 2018. It was written by Eddie Guzelian and directed by Michael E. Satrazemis.

<i>What Still Remains</i> 2018 American film

What Still Remains is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic thriller written and directed by Josh Mendoza. Lulu Antariksa stars as a young adult who loses her family. She comes upon a man from a religious commune, played by Colin O'Donoghue, who invites her to join them.

<i>Daylights End</i> 2016 American film

Daylight's End is a 2016 American action horror film directed by William Kaufman and written by Chad Law. It stars Johnny Strong as a drifter in post-apocalyptic Texas who agrees to help survivors, played by Lance Henriksen, Louis Mandylor, and Hakeem Kae-Kazim, escape to safety. Mixed martial arts fighter Krzysztof Soszynski plays the leader of vampires that attempt to kill them.

References

  1. THE LAST SURVIVORS: Check Out An Exclusive Clip From Tom Hammock's Post-Apocalyptic Film Archived May 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine by Todd Brown; July 31, 2015
  2. 1 2 Whittaker, Richard (August 4, 2015). "DVDanger: The Last Survivors". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. Haley Lu Richardson Talks Being One of The Last Survivors Posted on July 28, 2015 by Matt Boiselle, DreadCentral.com
  4. Barton, Steve (May 21, 2014). "First Clip From The Well Fights Back". Dread Central . Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  5. Jones, Gareth (April 2, 2015). "New Clip from The Last Survivors Delivers Post-Apocalyptic Violence". Dread Central . Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  6. "The Last Survivors (The Well) (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  7. Lowe, Justin (June 15, 2014). "'The Well': LAFF Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  8. Strauss, Bob (June 13, 2014). "LA Film Festival 2014: 'The Well' depicts the future without water — again". Los Angeles Daily News . Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  9. Rocchi, James (June 19, 2014). "LAFF Review: Post-Apocalyptic Drama 'The Well' is a Superb Debut for Tom S. Hammock". Indiewire . Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  10. Southall, J. R. "The Last Survivors". Starburst . Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.