This is another unlooked for small budget independent film that I knew about only due to being recommended by our cinephile friend. Director Trey Edward Shults is still so new at it that he has to boast about working for Terrence Malick on his Wikipedia page. No big names among the cast either though a couple of faces may be familiar.

A family survives on their own in a fortified house out in the woods as the outside world has been seemingly ravaged by a contagious disease. The three of them, Paul, his wife Sarah, and their teenaged son Travis maintain a stringent routine, donning masks and gloves for example and ensuring that there is only one way in and out of the house, to ensure their safety. One night they are awoken by an intruder breaking into their house. After disabling him and leaving him tied up for a time to ensure that he isn’t infected, Paul learns that the man’s name is Will and that he is searching for water for his own wife and son in a house not too far away. After hearing that they have excess food, including live animals, they decide to move Will’s family to the house and work together to survive. However despite the best of intentions, mutual suspicion builds up between the two families.

With its small cast and lack of world-building, the precise nature of the disease is never explained for example, this film’s focus is squarely on the psychological tension between strangers. Usually in such films, the audience empathizes with the main characters and fear violence being inflicted upon them from others. Here however the fear swings both ways. The cinematography is good and tension levels are high throughout. Travis’ dreams add a touch of terror and mystery to the situation and I like that although all of the characters are suspicious and strongly motivated to prioritize the survival of their respective families, every more or less behaves rationally. One scene that I really like is the talk Kim and Travis have late one night, capturing some sense of the sexual frustration that a male teenager must feel being cooped up in the house like that and doing his best to deal with it.

Still while it passes the basic tests of competence, in many ways it feels incomplete and insufficient. Oddly enough the characters are mostly so rational that there’s little sense of escalation. Things seem to be working out when something abruptly upends the household. Travis’ dreams feel like unfired Chekhov’s gun. The premise is sound but it could have been taken further. I even take issue with the film’s chosen title which is downright misleading. All in all, it’s a good effort but falls some way short of being outstanding.