Thanks to a random trailer hanging out on the right hand side of a Yahoo News article, I found out about a little film called Carriers. This is another post-apocalypse scenario, whereby a tuberculosis type virus has destroyed a majority of the population. Fortunately for me, it received a small release here in Edinburgh and I had a chance to see it (I was geeking out with enthusiasm that the theater was using an old slide projector and that the film was actually projected on 35mm).
If you only watched the trailer, you’d mark it for another dumb zombie film. However, this little gem is a solid film, with great acting, story, and of course, the fine details that make the apocalypse setting feel real (I will not spoil it). This isn’t a zombie movie and it isn’t just a Horror film. Like all greats, it’s really a drama with a horror backdrop. The film’s pathos is remarkably palpable as characters make tough choices in order to survive.
(POSSIBLE SPOILER, SKIP OVER PARAGRAPH)
This, plus the people we meet on this roadtrip to “safety” make the film immensely believable; we’re just as haunted by what happens to those left behind as those in the film. Plus, who knew Chris Pine, the new Captain Kirk, could swing from asshole leader, to crying mess, to menacing monster so well?
(SPOILER ALERT OVER, RESUME READING)
Sure, it’s a bunch of attractive young white kids running around, but my wife Bethany and I spent the hour walk home discussing the film’s characters. These weren’t the teenagers from Friday the 13th you wished death upon via machetes. This isn’t the best post-apocalyptic film, but I firmly give it a good, which is why it deserves a lot more attention.
This officially came out before Zombieland, so try not to be too harsh when it mentions “the rules” for survival.
Now that I’ve prepped you, go out and see this thing! Carriers is out on DVD in the U.S.*
*evidently the distributor for Carriers, Paramount Vantage, closed shop which is why this only received a limited release in the U.S. in September and then sent to the DVD house.
Other recommendations:
Blindness, Children of Men, The Mist, The Descent, 28 Days Later, Mad Max, The Thing, Pontypool (see my review)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been building a name for himself as a dynamic, charismatic actor since 2005’s Brick. But in his latest role, Hesher, Gordon-Levitt goes deeper down the rabbit hole than ever before, playing a loathsome, repulsive character well enough for us to love him. It’s a film about grief and anger, but it illustrates how most of us refuse to show those emotions, and Gordon-Levitt’s character has the wonderfully cathartic ability to draw us out of it. The result is both heartwarming and vulgar. Continue reading 
The Filmsmith
The Filmsmith 