Review of After the Dark

There are some discrepancies about the title of this film. Some sources are calling it 'After the Dark' which sounds bit like a horror movie, which is totally not, or the title that is on IMDb, 'The Philosophers' which in my opinion is more fitting. This film has an interesting concept. The action of the movie takes place in few locations at the same time. The main plot of the movie happens at an international school in Jakarta, were a philosophy teacher (James D'Arcy) challenges his class of twenty graduating seniors to choose which ten of them would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear apocalypse. Sounds strange and maybe boring, but it is anything but. In fact as the audience we wonder were this film will go. There are lots of moral questions ask here, about who is worth to be chosen to rebuild the humanity in case of a nuclear attack. It is all about the skills you possess and an ability to procreate. Is opera singer redundant over, for example carpenter? Do people who have to spend the full year in seclusion eventually will want to have some form of entertainment to drift away from the depression and monotony of their lives? Should gay people be automatically excluded not wanting to mate with women? These are interesting philosophical questions. The 3 hypothetical scenarios of the apocalypse are as follows, one bunker existing in Jakarta, one on the desert and the last one on deserted beach, offers a different psychological versions of behavior when intelligent young people who in fact are sitting in a classroom need to make a life and death decisions. This film has a lot of psychological depth and stays away from the typical apocalyptic clichés giving an interesting intellectual alternative approach to storyline that could easily become tedious. The performances are quite strong specially from James D'Arcy, Rhys Wakefield and almost hypnotic Sophie Lowe as Petra the smartest pupil of the class. The special FX of the nuclear explosions are good but not in pair with other movies with the higher budgets, but not distracting enough to take the attention of the viewer away from the overall experience. The music of Jonathan Davis and Nicholas O'Toole is a big part of the overall experience.'After the Dark' or 'The Philosophers' however this movie is called, might be worth checking out in the cinema due to it's visual appeal, nicely shot by John Radel, but also can be DVD rental on a rainy evening.

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