How to Save Us

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!

Awful. Easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen. One star for the beautiful eerie landscapes, otherwise there is simply nothing else to comment on. Don't waste your time. I am well versed in the intellectual movie genre, but this is not it. It's two hours of time vacuumed into oblivion. Now I am supposed to add a few more lines for the review to be long enough, but believe me, there is nothing to add here. There are movies that are not worth one star out of ten, and there is no point to beat around the bush or gorge on the negatives. If you are stubborn like me, you would perhaps spend 80 minutes or so waiting to see if it is a slow-unfolding gem with a plot twist. Let me save your time: it is not.

When a really short film drags by, something is definitely wrong. Here we had an original premise and a clever solution to the super micro-budget dilemma: Tasmania evacuated (but not destroyed) and, apparently, overrun by ghosts who you can only occasionally see. One man goes looking for his brother and we cut back and forth between the two of them wandering the empty countryside. I saw where another critic once said "A premise is not a story", and I'll modify that a bit here to say "A premise is not a screenplay". In this case the writer/director, Jason Trost, did have a story he wanted to tell but he simply had know idea how to go about it.

So we have a film which has attractive shots of a lone individual walking, or sitting, but that's literally almost all they do. There's a few potentially chilling scenes that are not chilling, with a small number of minimalist, but effective special effects. Yet the premise is never intelligently developed or believably presented. And to make matters worse, the intrepid writer/director casts himself as one of the leads (with the most lines, but since he's kinda talking to a radio it doesn't really count as dialogue) but the poor chap has less screen presence than a potato and seems about as invested in his performance as an exhausted man waiting for a bus. And by the end we are left to wonder if the whole thing was just a metaphor, because if it's supposed to be happening in reality it missed the mark even further. In the end, a nice looking film, and a promising concept, poorly served and tediously delivered. I don't hate myself for having watched it but I don't hate myself for looking at a bowl of soggy cereal either; yet if you're expecting something tasty, both will prove seriously disappointing, and possibly leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Seeing 6.3 rating of this movie, I just couldn't resist wasting 2min. for typing this review and about 15min of fast forwarding this masterpiece. The movie is about 2 dudes that do a lot of walking. Sometimes they seat. On occasion they fish and build camp fires. Very often they listen to really crappy music on a small mono transistor radio. Aha, almost forgot... From time to time there is a lot of wind and a very blurry figure shows up in the background. Presumably a ghost or an alien. On a plus side, the producers bought themselves a tripod. Most of the shots are steady. OK. I said it. That's it. Good luck not putting a bear bottle though your plasma... I would love to thank the other reviewers in person.

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