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On the eve of what likely is a nuclear apocalypse, one man is faced with the decision of who he wishes to spend his final moments with.
Trigger Warning(s): Pedophilia
Review (with Spoilers) – Below
Characters & Story
With countries, as well as continents, being destroyed and seemingly wiped off the face of the Earth, it is only a matter of time before Australia meets the same fate as the rest of the world. Thus leading to James (Nathan Phillips) having the decision to either go to Vicky (Kathryn Beck) or Zoe (Jessica De Gouw) to spend his final moments. All the while, on his quest, trying to figure out what to do with a child he rescues named Rose (Angourie Rice).
Praise
What interested me about the film, at first, was the debauchery which came with the film’s concept of what Australians would do if they knew the end of the world was coming. Something which included lots of violence, sex, and suicide. Though what really did draw me in was James and Zoe’s relationship for, thus far to my knowledge, there aren’t a lot of apocalypse films focused on two people spending their final moments together with no means of being saved.
Criticism
However, rather than focus on Zoe and James, instead the film decides to focus on the generic sex and violence which often is in apocalypse films. Leading to a film in which has James go on a road trip which has him saving a 12-year-old girl, meeting some girl he messes around with, and rarely presenting any reason to care about him, or anyone he associates with. Then, even when you take the focus off James and focus on Rose, while it is sad what goes on with her storyline, it doesn’t draw you in and may not affect you. Which could be due to desensitization, a bad script, or bad acting. Either way, James is a generic focus, even with the tragedy and “A-Ha” moment he has, and Rose also is a generic little girl who, even with the traumatic things which happen to her, somehow ends up ultimately forgettable.
Overall: TV Viewing
The main issue with These Final Hours is that you aren’t given but perhaps a few characters who really take the possibility of the end of the world seriously. Leading to which, at best, is like some of the premium stations’ worse shows which try to use sex and violence to compensate for a weak story and bland characters. However, with that said, what keeps this from being something to skip is it isn’t necessarily boring. It is just lacking in ways which could turn this from mindless entertainment into something with at least a decent romantic plot.
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