Movie Review: The Last Ones (2017)
The Last Ones is a post-apocalyptic horror/thriller from director Andrew Jara and the debut from Jara Productions. It’s a slow-burn horror-thriller about a virus that has seemingly killed off most of the population, and John (Mark Ocegueda) and Michael (Algernon D’Ammassa) are trying to survive by taking shelter in a home in the suburbs. They meet another survivor named Karina (Marcelle Bowman) when John is doing a supply run and decide to let her join them. John is the more laid back type who lost his family to the virus and is struggling with survival while coping with his loss, and Michael is pretty high strung and is sort of a protector of John and helping him survive. Michael is also the one with the gun, so he is calling the shots. As expected in these types of films, there are a lot of moments of tension between the survivors, and especially after Karina joins the group.
The film was shot in black and white and on a budget of only $40,000. The overall production quality takes some getting used to, as it’s very dialogue-heavy, and the dialogue sounds mostly like it was all recorded after the scenes were shot. Some older films were shot like this, and would heavily emphasize the score to highlight scenes and drive the atmosphere. The score was great in this and did just that. Jordon Schranz did a fantastic job capturing the bleak post-apocalypse vibe to complement the noir style of the film and really nailed the feeling of dread throughout. It reminded us of a lot of scores from classic horror. The cinematography was also great in this, and getting the right shots in a film that relies so much on the atmosphere is important. Kudos to Matt Wilson for doing a great job in his cinematography debut for a feature film.
Being a dialogue-driven film, the one thing that could have used a bit more attention was the writing of the conversations between the survivors. Some of the scenes where the survivors are interacting with each other seemed a bit unnatural. That being said, the story as a whole has an interesting premise when it comes to the zombies/infected, and there are some well-written scenes when it comes to the plot, especially later on as the story unfolds and the characters develop. Overall, We recommend giving this a watch. The Last Ones has a lot to offer stylistically and was a good first effort from Jara Productions. It does a good job of capturing the post-apocalyptic despair from the perspective of a couple of people that sets in when humanity is gone.
The Last Ones will be available on VOD to rent or own on AMAZON video on January 26th to rent or buy in the US and UK.
