How to Save Us

This is one of those movies where some added bucks would have made a big difference.

The concept is sound. A guy goes to Tasmania (of all places!) to find his brother. The only problem being that Tasmania has become overrun with ghosts. Crazy, I know! The problem with How to Save Us is that it needed more. Thanks to the story, we know why nobody else is around, but still, it would have been nice if there were a few more cast members. For an hour and twenty minutes, we watch as this guy searches for his brother. The focus jumps between the two, but that's basically it for characters. Also, although I found the locations and sets functional, they never really stood out as anything special.

Despite all this though, How to Save Us breaks out of its limitations and still delivers a creepy, unsettling story.

This movie is very simple; a man goes after his younger brother who is lost in a territory that has been mysteriously quarantined in an area that is desolate. Everything has been abandoned saved for a creature that has been killing humans and leaving their bodies to rot. Brian, our hero is tracking his brother Sam, who has been leaving clues as to whereabouts. These creatures in the area are going after Sam, who has been studying them, tracking them and learning their weaknesses. They are unable to detect you if you are around dead bodies or if you are covered with the remains of the dead (ashes). They are attracted to electricity and they can be seen with infrared. All these creatures nuances have been meticulously detailed in a book and left for Brian by Sam. The story progresses in delightful twists and turns, encapsulating the audience with the frantic chase between hunter and prey.

As for the movie visuals, it was shot against the beautiful backdrop of Austrailia, with familiar landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House. The visuals capture the beautiful layout of the continent and simple shots add so much more to the story and the feeling of emptiness that amplify the story that there are only two beings on the entire continent.

This character driven piece keeps you involved at all times. When you think that the scene will drag, something comes out of the dark and pulls you through an emotional roller coaster for a few seconds, then you are back again. This particular filmmaker is no stranger to making pieces on a low budget with superior casting and storyline and this specific film is no exception to his track record. How To Save Us is a great independent piece and should not be missed!

I really enjoyed this movie. Good concept, good cinematography. Didn't end the way I would have expected.

The ad campaign for "It Follows" sold us on the fact that it was the so-called best indie film of 2015. I hate to rain on the campaign of the billion dollar Weinstein Company, but you have not seen How to Save Us. Shot for less than 20k, the new film by Jason Trost is something to really brag about. The premise may sound like a done to death very formulaic disaster film but the results is anything but. You have a brother named Brian who is traveling thru a plagued wasteland to find his brother Sam. How to Save Us takes that plot and gives us a twist that goes into both the supernatural and emotional. Brian seems to be one of the very few people left after this mass annihilation by plague. He knows his brother Sam is somewhere in Tasmania which is now being taken over by some kind of ghosts. Now before you start thinking hokey sheets or some done to death Poltergeist, these ghosts are a little bit different than what you would expect which leads to the horror element of the film. We learn early in the film that you have to hide from them like put human ashes on you so the spirits cannot find you or smell you. The spirits have this ability to change them that really adds to the creepy factor.

The most effective is when they take over the radio and warn Brian constantly about Tasmania, or try to manipulate him by giving him voices of his family. The last twenty minutes of this film throws us a huge curve ball that shows a very emotional finale that people will really get freaked out by and also feel for our main character and know why it was so important for him to take this journey to find Sam. Trost showcased his love of trying to change the formula of the normal with All Superheroes Must Die which to me was a very fun film and very underrated. How To Save Us is an early favorite for Film of the Year not only because it changed the normal but also for the simple fact from script to characters to how this film plays out, it is just simply brilliant. In the summer of all the giants, this small indie film is simply one of the best films you will see this summer. I will also say, this is an early contender for film of the year. What a brave statement, Jason Trost has arrived. I am simply blown away and I feel all of you who read this will be as well. Seek this film out immediately. How to Save Us is going to rock your world.

This movie has its a special theme that no character talks each other face to face till the end, all conversation going in either background or recorded on radio. Story about a man who finds his brother at quarantine island of Marina, where unknown ghost are wandering. You only can save yourself from them by drawing a line of ashes. Will he back with his brother ? Find answer after watching this movie. Quarantine feels current lock down situation due to Covid- 19 pandemic.