Refuge – Toronto After Dark 2014

Following a bacterial outbreak, society has crumbled and the survivors have gone into hiding, in constant fear of marauders.  Jack (Carter Roy) is hiding out with his wife Nell (Amy Rutberg) and daughter Birdie (Eva Grace Kellner), along with fellow survivor Kyle (Chris Kies).  One day, while scavenging for food, Jack takes in a man named Russell (Sebastian Beacon), who crashed his motorcycle on his way to meet his brother at a rumoured refuge for survivors.  When a group of marauders Russell used to hang out with tracks him down, the family is forced to flee and attempt to locate the refuge, which may or may not exist. Refuge is a post-apocalyptic film, which is attempting to provide a somewhat realistic view of what the world would be like following a great catastrophe.  The result is a film that is often quite bleak, though also somewhat slow.  Much of the second half of the film involves the family travelling to locate the refuge.  While there are some impressive shots of the empty post-apocalyptic landscape, much of the film isn’t particularly that exciting. Refuge creates tension through the band of marauders, who often resort to grisly violence to get their way.  This is one aspect that the film gets right, however its a shame that the marauders are not a more constant threat within the film.  It is not really until the final ten or fifteen minutes of the film when the tension finally reaches its peak, with a somewhat disturbing confrontation.  While these final few minutes only serve to add to the overall bleak nature of Refuge, it is also the most stand-out moment of the film. Altogether, Refuge was an OK enough post-apocalyptic drama, despite being quite slow and bleak. 7 | FAIR