The Day

Bleak and fairly effective low-budget survivalism in the post-apocalyptic hellscape. Set ten years after the no-need-to-explain end of world (one character notes: "it's been two years since we heard a bird chirp)and with, in the first half of the movie, a cinéma vérité feel, what remains of humanity seems to be running on fumes. Whereupon, events take a turn for the worse.

Produced by and featuring Dominic Monaghan, the script initially appears to tread the conventions of a zombie movie, until it becomes clear that the five main characters face opponents far worse than the undead.

Well considered use of color-bleached cinematography keep the protagonists trapped in a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD milieu even as the enemy enjoys blue-eyed, blue-sky color.

The almost black and white color drained tone fits with the movie's grim, desperate atmosphere. The plot is simple: a small group of survivors, an abandoned house, and "Danger" lurking everywhere.

The Day directed by Douglas Aarniokoski based on a screenplay by Luke Passmore tries hard to be a serious survival film, but it's slowed down by boring melodrama and cringeworthy dialogue. The characters feel like stock stereotypes, and the overuse of dramatic music adds to the unintentional comedy. If you're looking for a thought-provoking film, this isn't it.

Filming took place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, during the fall of 2010

There is a twist, but overall, it's a below-average, almost bad movie.

The only thing that I think hamstrings this movie is poor production quality. They shoulda just burn the house down rather using VFX that says it is present in the movie. Otherwise, the screenplay was taut. People who confuse action for fast, abstruse editing cuts, a-la Michael Bay maybe disappointed but action that forwards the script will delight true movie connoisseurs. Good indies are hard to come by. Finding one is like finding a treasure. For me 'The Day' is to zombie/apocalypse what 'According to Greta' is to coming of age and 'City island' is to family dramedy.

The kills are good and guns don't don't have unlimited ammo. I'd say it does flag a bit in the second act but the climax delivers. But I'd also say that this movie is not for everybody. Save it for a day when not in the mood rom-coms are brain investing movies. Put your eyes on auto-pilot, grab a cold one, and viola! That's a decent 90 minutes right there.

Saw this movie in Toronto and loved it! It's not your typical post-apocalyptic thriller. There is a lot of action - as the previous reviewer said it picks up after about half an hour and the adrenaline is pumping from there on out. But it also has pretty deep character development and some emotionally intense scenes. The cast has some recognizable faces (Sossamon, Monaghan, etc.) but no huge stars or clichéd action heroes that detract from the characters. I thought the tension and emotion seemed really authentic. It was also shot in a really cool way. All in, it had everything I was looking for in an action film but was more unique and memorable than I was expecting. Can't wait to see it again on the big screen!

For some reason (possibly due to the marketing) people seem to think that The Day is about zombies. It's not. It doesn't even feature a slightly hungry vampire. It's totally UN-supernatural (unless you count the fact that the world has - technically - come to an end and everyone's living in a post-apocalyptic landscape).

Five survivors take refuge in a farmhouse which basically doesn't belong to them. Soon, those who own it come for what they believe is theirs. Carnage ensues.

First of all I have to mention 'the look' of this film. I know it's meant to be bleak, but the film-makers have gone to the added length of basically draining all the colour from the footage. It certainly does the trick. The atmosphere is definitely bleak. During the night scenes, you might as well be watching a black and white film. This will appeal to some, others may find it a little annoying.

After a (very!) slow start, the five characters (of whom we get to know and care for reasonably well) come under siege from the owners of the farmhouse (apparently, in an earlier draft they were zombies). This is, of course, when the majority of the action starts. Although, it comes well into the final third of the movie, making the 'climax' shorter than you might expect.

The Day has a kind of '28 Days Later' look and feel to it (helped by the pretty good musical score) and plays out like Assault on Precinct 13.

I've seen a lot of reviewers raving about The Day, but, despite a few nice touches here and there (plus some bits that actually surprised a hardened film-goer like myself), I never thought it was that much of a classic.

In short, it's not bad. If you're looking for a post-apocalyptic version of Precinct 13 then this one could be for you.