The Last Days (2013)

Don't Believe the Hype

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Apocalyptic movies are some of the most overdone, repetitive, and terrible movies that keep being created, and that is coming from a huge fan of the genre. Unlike most other apocalypse style movies "The Last Days" pulls out new a creative conflict that is not often considered instead of using one of the vanilla end of the world scenarios. "The Last Days" does a phenomenal job of creating relatable and believable human conflict that drives the characters to make decisions that in turn drive the story. The mixture of successes and failures experienced by the characters blends beautifully into the story and leaves you feeling the same emotions as the protagonist. With that in mind the special effects are not great but are not used enough to degrade the story at all. A must watch for any apocalypse fan.

The synopsis for this movie almost put me off as it seemed a little dull but I am so glad I decided to give it a go.The basic premise is a guy looking for his love after developing "The Panic", a form of agoraphobia so severe it causes instant death. There is a little bit of buddy action thrown in as he goes on his travels. Please don't let that put you off, I am not into romantic films or buddy movies and I loved this. Well acted, beautifully shot, this one draws you in from the start and has you rooting for the main character until the end. There is not a huge amount of dialogue so even if you are not a fan of subtitles, it didn't detract from my enjoyment. There is a little action in it but it is mostly about how people deal with an apocalyptic event in a completely human way.If you like your films with loads of action, gore and special effects then this probably isn't for you but if you don't mind something a bit slower like The Road for example, then you'll like this one.

The premise for this movie was something pretty original. There is a worldwide epidemic in which people become agoraphobic when they go outside, suffer a heart attack, and die. It doesn't happen all at once, and there's no explanation for it. Clever. Marc is stuck at his workplace and the whole movie is about him trying to find his girlfriend. He teams up with a consultant, hired to "trim the fat" in his office, and who found a GPS to allow them to navigate amongst the sewers and underground mass transit tunnels. (GPS wouldn't work, but I'll give them a break here) That first 20 minutes of setup was done reasonably well. The concept was unique, and the way they introduced the back stories of the characters through flashbacks was done well. The character development was reasonable, at least as good as you can expect in a modern film, where directors just want to skip to the story or the action.After that, the movie goes downhill rapidly. Instead of making it a realistic portrayal of a guy just struggling to find his girlfriend after a worldwide apocalypse, they turn it into a half-rate action movie, with gun fights, grizzly bear attacks, "Waterworld" shopping mall gangs, exploding camp stoves, etc.... The supporting characters are kept only so long as they're needed by Marc, then they're thrown away at the script's earliest convenience. It ends with a happy ending, but by that point, you really don't care that much because, with a movie like this, you know how it's going to end already.Could have been great... oh well.

Los Ultimos Dias is quite simply one of the best Sci-fis I've seen in years. Apocalyptic in style and set amidst the backdrop of Barcelona it explores several modern themes: our ever increasingly insular, urban and isolated lifestyles and our obsession with individualism and self reliance. Directors David and Alex Pastor deliver us these themes with European subtlety; never lecturing nor forcing the point in a way American cinema seems often too frightened to attempt with this genre; a film for adults comparable and, dare I say it, even better than The Road (although not quite as morbid).I suspect the subtitles will put some English speakers off, which is a shame as the script is tight enough, the sets visual enough, and the acting engaging enough, as to hardly notice them; so lost I was at times in this dark, apocalyptic, nightmare. More ambitious European projects please! I may be English but I still find myself relating more to a Spanish sci-fi than to the heavy handed, patronising, spoon-fed treacle that constantly oozes from Hollywood.