It’s interesting that teenagers and post-apocalyptic worlds fit so well together. Even Mad Max: Fury Road had a youngish cast. Perhaps there really is no country for old men. The Last Survivors (formerly titled The Well) is a post-apocalyptic film that tells a simple story convincingly, especially considering its director, Thomas S. Hammock, has up until now focused his career on production design. Taking place in a future world of water-depleted desperation, the film keeps its focus narrow, depicting life in the now desert wasteland of the Oregon Valley without trying to explain the world or how any of this came to pass. It’s a very present film, focusing on the immediate struggles of its quiet characters.

Kendal (Haley Lu Richardson) is a smart and self-sufficient survivor during these dangerous times. Living at what used to be a home for orphaned youth with another survivor, Dean (Twilight‘s Booboo Stewart), she discretely keeps the two of them alive off of water from their hidden well. During the day Kendal slinks around the sun-streaked arid land in search of abandoned cars, rummaging through their parts for a specific piece that will work on the non-functioning airplane they hope to use to escape this place. Dean, who is starting to look sickly, spends nights listening to the old two-way radio the neighboring farms use to keep each other informed. One night a neighbor says there are people outside her house, and her fright suggests there is more to fear in the desert than dehydration. Kendal grabs her trusty shotgun and heads off into the night. A man named Carson (John Gries) has been offering his help to those left in the valley who want to come out of hiding, but as she sneaks around the dark farm, Kendal sees that Carson, along with his daughter and the sadistic priestly looking lackey who never leave his side, clearly have selfish intentions for the land (and water) of the farmers. Kendal barely escapes with her life, the other farm folk not so lucky.

Setting a jumpy atmosphere as it transitions between dark indoor and night scenes and blindingly bright outdoor desert scenes, the film keeps up great tension. Hammock is smart to keep his plot simple, focusing on survival and the simple daily threats that Kendal must face. Richardson carries the film expertly, showing both courage and fear to round Kendal out as a believable and likable hero. The film does falter somewhat in providing proper motivation for its side characters. Kendal and Dean, forced to maintain their daily survival in hiding mode as they work toward their goal of flying away, do their small part to help others as available. A child, Alby (Max Charles), presumably also from the home, lives in a neighboring barn, refusing to join Kendal and Dean but accepting the daily rations she brings him.

Gabriel (another Twilight alum, Michael Welch), part of a neighboring farm, harbors feelings for Kendal yet inexplicably accepts his place in Carson’s army of burlap clad drones after his family ill-advisedly seeks Carson’s help. Which is another small hiccup—Kendal does a lot of hiding throughout the film doing a good job of staying alive, but isn’t especially helpful in keeping those around her alive, especially in warning others of Carson’s obvious maliciousness. It takes a lot for her to finally fight back in the end, though when she does it’s a well-crafted standoff. Most puzzling, though, is that Carson himself seems to lack compelling causation. Granted, his greed for water, the highest commodity, is evident, but his sadistic nature isn’t as clearly explained. Everything he does, he claims to do for his daughter, but the chemistry between them is weak.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the details (for one, Kendal’s hair is entirely too perfect considering showers are definitely not an option in a world without water), the overall picture Hammond paints is pretty remarkable for a first-time director. With the feel of a well-paced Western, The Last Survivors stands out, never sinking to the theatrics of other post-apocalyptic films.

A version of this review ran as part of our 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival coverage. The Last Survivors is available August 4, 2015 on VOD, DVD & Blu-Ray. 

Falling in a similar pattern as other teen-pregnancy type films, The Young Kieslowski is a one-sided tale of a young man’s perspective on being thrown into pending fatherhood. While much has been made of the female perspective on unexpected pregnancy, director Kerem Sanga, (who has one other feature under his belt, 2012’s Trigger Finger), attempts to effectively and humorously portray the thoughts that go racing through the mind of a young man in a situation he has little control over.

Brian Kieslowski (Ryan Malgarini) is a recent enrollee at Cal Tech, a science geek by anyone’s definition, he has long-awaited life in college not only for a chance to escape the tension he feels at home, where his mother is slowly battling lung cancer, but also because he’ll finally be that much closer to accomplishing a more substantial life goal: losing his virginity. When he and his roommate attend a party off campus one evening he meets Leslie Mallard (Haley Lu Richardson). Playing nice-guy to her drunk-girl he helps her home, sobers her up, and ends up spending a night of getting to know this self-ascribed Christian virgin who, while possibly out of his league, seems to connect with him in some way. In a moment of spontaneity, the two decide to have sex and Brian leaves with her phone number, feeling that he’s finally accomplished the impossible. When he accidentally washes Leslie’s phone number off of his hand, he finds it difficult to follow-up with her but takes it as a sign that perhaps he’s meant to move on. Leslie, however, is discovering that her night of temptation has a more lasting consequence: she’s pregnant, with twins. Managing to track Brian down, Leslie breaks the news to him. He doesn’t take it well. Acting on his frightened impulse, Brian simply walks away, mind racing, and ends up face down in the Cal Tech fountain.

After a pep talk from friends, Brian comes to his senses, finding Leslie in class and offering her the hug she needs. From there they have THE discussion. Abortion or parenthood? But Brian, rather than risk losing Leslie’s interest (since he truly likes her) pretends to go along with her decision to keep the babies, secretly hoping her wealthy hard-edged father will talk her out of it. When she chickens out on a visit to her father, they end up at his parents where, in a hilarious scene, he’s forced to tell them the truth of their situation. From there Brian makes some predictably bad decisions, sabotaging his chances with Leslie as a way of coping with his fear of becoming a father. All leading up to an expected finale in the delivery room—where all such films tend to end up.

The Young Kieslowski, while perhaps admirable in its truth about men’s feelings of helplessness when confronted with pregnancy, does little to garner much sympathy for the typical male response. Malgarini plays Brian with just enough geeky innocence to draw out some compassion, but ultimately his attempts to reconcile the decisions he’s made don’t even out. Richardson gives warmth to Leslie and her battle to act on what she feels is right despite what her family and Brian want to push on her, but she lacks credibility. Her feelings for Brian seem mostly motivated by the connection formed between them in the lives of the children she carries, decidedly falling short of real romance. The couple have a sort of chemistry but it’s entirely formed on superficial details, and while it’s cute for the sake of the “rom” part of this rom-com, doesn’t run deep enough to be felt from the screen. The inclusion of their parent’s perspectives adds more dynamic to the story and raises the stakes somewhat, but are also rather predictable.

Sanga’s comedy incites the usual laughs that accompany a young male freaking out, but the weaknesses of Brian’s character are too disappointing to laugh through. There’s nothing progressive here, and while touching at points, and undeniably realistic (and therefore funny) in its emotional touchstones, it feels wrong to laugh at what is essentially the worst of culturally ascribed gender role behaviors.

A version of this review was originally posted as part of our 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival coverage.