These Final Hours (2013)

Not knowing anything about it, I decided to check "These final hours", and I am glad I did.

It's a rather powerful drama about the end of the world. Meteorite had hit North America and firestorm is spreading from there, destroying most of the world. Australia only has few hours left before firestorm finally hits it's territory, destroying entire world completely.

Movie fallows James, a man with troubled past, man filled with loneliness and emptiness in his life. He is accompanied with little girl looking for her dad. What fallows is series of event that eventually lead James on the path of his own redemption and realization of what wrongs he did in his life, but, as time is running out, he races with time (or firestorm) to right the wrongs of his life, or at least some of them.

There could be some theories why he picks up little girl, but it's most likely that his "fatherhood" instinct kicks in after saving little girl Rose, since at the beginning of the movie we find out that his girlfriend is pregnant, and since world will end in just a few hours, Rose ends up being his surrogate daughter.

It should be noted that while movie deals with apocalyptic theme, it also gives a fair amount of hope for viewers as well as it's characters, via character (or rather voice) of radio host who informs people when firestorm is going to hit. It's a nice element, since radio host is basically a narrator of the movie.

Music is terrific and rather beautiful, especially at the end. Great acting from Nathan Phillips, Jessica de Gouw and Angourie Rice.

Fmovies: There are some special qualities in this end-of-the-world enactment. The main plus is that this is a large scale fable of the last days on earth that moves well. It never gets stuck on one theme, except the disruption of the leading character's relationships, which also signals the end of what is known about 'personal' life under would-be normal circumstances. There really is a fully owned dramatization of the total dislocation of normal society - & this is possibly among the best of such dramatizations. There is a faithfulness to the screenwriter's vision that's pretty awesome. Also awesome is some really good acting from the leading man, who gets convincingly tearful at the prospect of being parted from a 7-year old girl who'd become his charge through the course of the story's development. The imminent end of things near and dear is very well brought across, with hardly any mucking about in minor sub-plots.

Very entertaining and edgy. Good character development and plausible plot line. Set in Western Australia - amusing - in that in the 60s and 70s Perth people used to boast that it was a great city in which to live because if the world was coming to end it would get to Perth 10 years later! Great build up through the film and a thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking experience. Acting by Angourie Rice and Nathan Phillips was very polished. Great movie- would recommend. Have seen a few other end of the world movies but These Final Hours makes you think about what would your priorities be? Zak Hildich as writer director has created what I believe will be a significant contribution to Australian Cinema.

These Final Hours fmovies. This one took me by surprise. If you appreciate fine cinema, you ought to love this one, too. The writing, casting, directing, production and soundtrack are all excellent. Young actress Angourie Rice, as other reviewers have noted, offers an especially memorable and deeply emotional performance. Nathan Phillips, Jessica De Gouw, Sarah Snook, Lynette Curran, Daniel Henshall and supporting cast are also excellent and convincing. This is a great film; full of drama, emotion, suspense and beauty ... please don't miss it. p.s. My other favorite films from Oceania are 'Bliss' (1985, Australia) and 'The Quiet Earth' (1985, New Zealand).

Great, absorbing, understated apocalypse drama.

Reasonably original plot. Set in Perth, Australia, the world will end in less than 12 hours. A man (played by Nathan Phillips) heads out to an End of the World party. On the way he saves a little girl (played by Angourie Rice) from the clutches of some kidnappers. Now his priorities and degrees of compassion are tested...

It's certainly not your average apocalypse drama. Focuses mainly on relationships and what matters most, rather than the usual survival- type stuff. Quite emotional at times.

Well-directed too. Small budgets tend to bring out the best in directors, as they have to rely on good old-fashioned camera angles and the like, and the audience's imaginations, rather than special effects. This movie is no exception: director (and writer) Zak Hilditch uses the camera well, and relies on the audience to fill in some of the details.

Fairly unknown cast put in solid performances. The standout is probably Angourie Rice as the little girl. Very convincing, especially for someone her age.

Production is a bit rough around the edges, but in some ways that helps, as it makes it feel more real.

Unfortunately good Australian feature films are very few and far between these days, with the glory days of the 70's seemingly only a distant memory. A few years back, Wolf Creek revived Aussie movies and really set the benchmark, however as true form showed, movies to follow it never really reached the levels that could sell internationally.

That is until These Final Hours came along. WOW! What an experience! One that I was totally not expecting and found myself caught off guard.

Nathan Phillips plays a very arrogant and self indulgent young man, traveling to a party to see in the end of the world which is approaching in 12 hours time. Things are complicated when he saves a young girl from two thugs and learns that she is trying to find her family. With no other option, he takes the girl on a trip, trying to steer clear of trouble, but in a world that is facing certain doom, trouble is very easy to find.

If there were any doubts about the ability of Nathan Phillips as an actor, then I think those doubts will be squashed after his performance in this movie. Such a raw portrayal of a horrible situation bringing out the best in a seemingly horrible person. The performance of the young girl was also admirable and I am sure we can expect bigger and better things from her in the future.

The violence and sex is there but never overdone. Instead it focuses on how people act in a dire situation. Some good, and some crumble! Some truly heart wrenching scenes that will immediately be compared to the American film "The Road" which I was also a big fan of.

HOWEVER, I am going out on a limb here and saying that THESE FINAL HOURS is indeed a better film than the brilliant THE ROAD.

Go and see it !!! This has revived my hope for Australian Cinema for the future!