Downstream

Since I've made low-budget films myself, I first must say that I am impressed by what Simone put together with Philip Kim's script.

It's a professional product and very nice production value throughout. Especially some of the car-scenes had some complicated and really nice filming. I enjoyed the editing with the German-like experimental split-screen - especially since it was mostly used to tell two sides of the same scene.

Of course, we have seen most of this before. Especially in the MAD MAX-films, of course, but mostly, this film resembles A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975) and there's also a lot of nods to Enzo Castellari's incredible Italian Mad Max-rip off I NUOVI BARBARI (1982).

Downstream IS very Italian. If you haven't seen any of the Italian post-nuke films, then you're missing out on a lot of the films inspiration.

Mostly, I thought this was well-made and for the low budget these people worked with, they created a nice film that works. Sadly, the ending is a bit slow.

Otherwise, the fights and car-action was very good. It reminds me a lot of Marshall's DOOMSDAY (2008), of course - but do remember that that film had a $30M budget and this only a $1M! So if you like the casual Italian post-apocalypse thing, then this is for you.

I have to agree with everything that previous reviews say when they point out the negatives of this film. For the first 20 minutes I had convinced myself that I had already seen it then I realised I was thinking of 'Book Of Eli'. Saying that the first 20 minutes you do feel like something of a plot is developing but at this point you can switch off as nothing worth watching happens from that point onward.The last 20 minutes of the film then go from bad to worse. I think whatever good this film had must have been lost in post-production as whomever was responsible for the final cut seems to have a bad idea of good film, which this clearly had the potential to become. Such a shame and I believe a career ender for many involved.

The movie takes place roughly ten years in the future, after the world has collapsed due to suddenly running out of oil. The premise is interesting and the story kinda hooks you up in the beginning, making you want to see where it goes.

Unfortunately, the production quality as well as the story declines quickly and by the ending credits you will only be disappointed. I made the mistake of watching the movie all the way, all the time waiting for that big twist to make it worth watching. Also, do not expect to see any cool sci-fi tech or you'll be disappointed even more.

The movie is rather brutal and this certainly will upset some viewers, even though I found myself wondering why they didn't do it all the way instead of making it dull like they did. This could have saved it in the lack of an actual story.

Pluses Some of the songs were catchy and overall, the soundtrack matched the film's mood. And the acting was okay, and the Big Chase/Fight sequence was workmanlike. And the opening setup (while the credits were running) was good. Minuses The plot. The ending. The characters.

I think the movie was trying to tell us something about not wasting energy and conserving a bit more, that's fine. But to do it in this setting, I sorry but it's been done a million times. If you want to make a fictional sorry that conveys a message, use something "in your face" fictional (go see district 9), don't use pseudo-science. I could go on a big rant about what was wrong with the science of the movie, but I don't think this site is the correct forum for that.

In the end, if they would have used some out-of-this-world reason to explain what happens, the movie would have been better. Should you see it, sure, just don't read too much into it. The movie isn't deep and it's not a prophecy of what is to come, although I'm sure there are people out there that will say it is.