Los últimos días (2013) Reviews

• Supernatural apocalyptic Sci-Fi , artfully , well-played and compellingly directed

  ma-cortes2013-12-07

  Thrilling film about a mysterious epidemic spreads across the planet , being well set , splendidly acted , including great production design , state-of-art FX and rightly directed . This chiller with supernatural elements was stunningly realized by Spanish filmmakers David and Alex Pastor . ¨Los Ultimos Dias¨ or ¨The last days¨ packs intrigue , intense drama , action and astonishing suspense film about strange sudden incidents altering the planet , leaving them stranded with no line of communication to the outside world . It is set in 2013 , Barcelona , a mysterious epidemic spreads across the planet . Humanity develops an irrational fear of open spaces that causes instant death . Soon , the world population is trapped inside buildings . As Barcelona descends into chaos , there Marc (Quim Gutierrez) without ever going outside sets off on a quest to find Julia (Marta Etura), his missing girlfriend , as she works along with Andrea (Leticia Dolera) at a puppet shop in a shiny shopping center where Marc attempts to go . Along the way , Marc finds Enrique (Jose Coronado) , nicknamed "The Terminator" because he dedicated to fire people . Enrique accompanies Marc who wants to search for Julia . They start their way on the subway, following the typical leaflet with the station map and the GPS . Intrigue , intense drama , action and suspense film about a deadly and rapacious virus spread by means of contacting to exterior world . Suspense thriller that deals with a particular buddy movie between Quim Gutierrez and Jose Coronado , a special relationship among two different characters turning into an intimate friendship . The pictures results to be a metaphor for social panic in the same way that 50s extraterrestrial films mirrored fears of Red Menace . Nice performances from Quim Gutierrez , Marta Etura and special mention to Jose Coronado who stands out as a tough as well as sensitive veteran become an action man . Colorful and appropriate cinematography by Daniel Aranyó who has also worked in Hollywood as ¨High School Musical ¨ saga and subsequently photographed ¨Invasor¨ and ¨Combustion¨ . Stirring and thrilling musical score by Fernando Velazquez who previously composed for successful terror films as ¨The orphanage¨ , ¨For the God of others¨ , ¨Devil¨ and ¨Julia's eyes¨ . Good direction by Pastor Brothers who do have its thrilling moments , most of them in the first half , though the second half being mostly dramatic and tragic , including a touching finale . The motion picture was original and compellingly realized by David and Alex Pastor . They offer us an intelligent flick of the apocalyptic world movie , intimate , committed and lots of action . This one resulted to be their second film and David and Alex Pastor Brothers had directed in 2009 ,¨Carriers¨ , with international cast such as Chris Pine , Lou Taylor Pucci , Piper Perabo , Emily VanCamp and Christopher Meloni ; also dealing with a strange virus that causes instant death , as the world population is trapped in illness , contagion and infection . It marked David and Alex Pastor's debut feature as directors but was garnering so much attention from international sites . This his second film offer us an intelligent flick of the apocalyptic world movie with strong intrigue and suspense including considerable violence , developed in Barcelona city , in which they manage to convey an eerie atmosphere to dismay . Rating : Above average . Well worth watching .

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• Superlative effort; great sci-fi

  nicolepommerehncke2013-07-28

  "Los Ultimos Dias" is an excellent offering in the post apocalyptic sci- fi sub genre, in the best tradition of films like "The Road" and "Blindness". The story has a simple premise: what if, one day, for unknown reasons humans are unable to survive out in the open? "Los Ultimos Dias" tackles this premise head on and cleverly plays out the consequences of how humanity would deal with this problem, how would it move about, how would it find food, etc. The acting is solid throughout, as is the cinematography and the special effects, which were never unconvincing or distracting. The story itself is very well told, nicely paced, and never stretches believability. I'd also like to mention the wonderful musical score that beautifully complemented the visuals. This was an engaging, intelligent, and beautiful film that I can't wait to watch again.

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• A grim but surprisingly uplifting tale

  moviefansme2014-02-23

  What a pleasant surprise! The plot for this movie sounds fairly thin and uninteresting, but the storytelling and characters make it much more compelling than expected. The story is grim yet the audience feels for the lead characters who are determined to prevail for motivations that could seem sappy but come across as noble. The premise sounds simplistic but the storytelling is intriguing. We find ourselves in a recently post-apocalyptic world; the cause this time: People develop a fear of going outside. Through flashbacks that are visually woven into the story, we see how a few people seeming go crazy and won't leave the building they're in, or die in the process. This overwhelms more people until everyone is trapped in the building they were in when "The Panic" hit them. The story doesn't dwell on the cause but exploring the consequences. The story packs a lot of emotion and drama with vivid characters portrayed well by the lead actors. The look of the movie, the score, the turns in the plot, and the characters' evolution come together to create dramatic punch. I look forward to more movies from the Pastor brothers.

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• Excellently crafted, beautiful film

  exitof992014-08-07

  I do love dystopian films. They just hit the right spot in my brain, but only if they are done right. This, was done right. With believable characters, and a proper amount of back story, this film deals with how humans cope with normal life when something as basic as stepping outside for breath of fresh air becomes impossible. It doesn't try to be anything overly amazing, but revolves around Marc and his struggle to reunite with his love, Julia, in an unstable world. As they say, it's not the destination - it's the journey. That applies quite well here. For those afraid of subtitled films, the dialog is sparse enough - do not pass this one by for that reason.

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• A good, refreshing catastrophic movie.

  lag-plvs2014-07-25

  This is an entertaining, not pretentious survival movie that has not zombies in it and that's a lot to say nowadays. The movie takes place in Barcelona and tells the story of a software engineer caught up in the middle of the disaster. Nothing extremely original but it is just well done. The film-maker paid attention to details, cast performance is rock solid specially Coronado's and the pacing is perfect. The main actor also delivers but I didn't like his voice very much and sometimes couldn't make out what he was saying. It sends some messages and social commentaries but not in a pretentious, superficial way. Maybe I would have hoped that the main female character ,played by actress Marta Etura, be more important in the storyline. This is a good European catastrophic movie. We need more of these!

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