Z for Zachariah 2015

     This film is based on a novel by Robert C. O’Brien published in 1974 after his death.  There has been a nuclear war on the earth that released a lot of radiation.  Most of the population has died but a few people managed to survive if they were underground for a while at the height of the radiation level.  Ann Burden lives on her father’s farm and for some unusual reason, the radiation did not affect the Burden Valley.  Ann thinks she might be the last person alive on earth until she encounters John Loomis.  He was a chemist in an underground lab near Ithaca New York, he came to the surface wearing a radiation suit and a he sleeps in a small portable trailer.  He meets Ann and they start to help each other on her farm.  Both Ann and John are surprised when Caleb shows up at the farm.  Caleb had been working in an underground mine and he stayed there until the other men passed away.

     I didn’t know where this story was going and I wanted more details about what happened to cause all the radiation since this is the problem with the world?  The church that Ann’s father built and preached in every Sunday is almost a character too.  The dynamic changes when there are three people instead of two.  This film had potential but I thought the ending was unsatisfying.  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

88 min, Drama directed by Craig Zobel with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, Margot Robbie.

Note:  Imdb 6.0 out of 10, 78% critic 46% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Amazon 2.8* out of 5* with 278 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed at New Zealand’s Banks Peninsula and the former coalmining town of Welch, West Virginia.  First shown at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2015.