Originally titled “The Philosophers” and set to come out summer of 2013, “After the Dark” was released this past weekend, probably in an attempt to garner more excitement for the film over time. It follows a high school philosophy class on their last day of school as they are forced to imagine a global cataclysm—one in which they must choose which members of their class perish. This film revitalizes the apocalypse genre, as it alternates between their Jakarta classroom and a variety of decimated landscapes of their imagination.
The class begins the first exercise with each student pulling a card out of a box that details their profession that could lend credibility to their life’s importance. Out of the 21 members of the class, including the teacher, only 10 can survive in a bunker. The students argue over the importance of each other in an intense debate that feels phenomenally lifelike. The teacher, Mr. Zimit (James D’Arcy, “Cloud Atlas”), abruptly shoots all the students who were left to die outside the bunker, claiming it was more merciful than dying from nuclear radiation. Those left to make decisions agree to cast him from the bunker; he perishes, but not before he informs the students that he was the only person who knew the code to exit the bunker. Eventually, after the students have tried to escape, they all die. Zimit calls for a second exercise, hoping the group will make the correct choices this time around.
The students are faced with a variety of dilemmas in this intellectually stimulating drama. Petra (Sophie Lowe, “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland”) is the most intelligent student in the class, who is sometimes swayed towards bad decisions because of love for her boyfriend, James (Rhys Wakefield, “The Purge”). Both of them land relatively good positions in society, an organic farmer and a structural engineer. Others such as gelato maker Parker (Jacob Artist, “Glee”) are left with not much importance. Yet during the second demonstration, each student opens up the card with their profession to discover a second aspect of their imaginary personality. Some with unimportant professions have other abilities, while others with important professions have medical problems that could influence their spot in the bunker. The students begin to see each other as only as important as the things their imaginary personalities can accomplish.
The concept of this film is exciting for the same reason that apocalypse films have become so popular in this day and age: What would happen to the world if every single structure people have depended on was ripped away? “After the Dark” aims to expose the frailty of the human condition, but allows this select group of students several times to correct their mistakes. In addition to placing the students in decimated locales, the film also explains a variety of philosophy terms that some audience members may not understand, portrayed with visual situations rather than textual explanations. One example is the “ignorant bliss paradox,” depicted by the situation of a single person hanging off a roof. They call their three best friends to help save them, but the friends choose to let you drop, out of a fear that pulling you up may pull them over the side. You drop from the building but miraculously survive. Was it better that you never found out your friends would betray you and stayed ignorant forever? This was just one of many interesting questions posed throughout.
The acting in this film is relatively good, especially considering the young cast. Though many of the actors are new or unheard of, Bonnie Wright (“Harry Potter”), George Blagden (“Les Miserables”) and Daryl Sabara (“Spy Kids”) all have important parts in the film, setting an example for those actresses and actors with less experience. “After the Dark” seems to push its characters to their limits, setting before them difficult situations and a look at their own mortality and morality. These difficult dramas do not faze any of the actors, as they portray each character separately and captivatingly.
Though most of this movie is phenomenal, the ending does leave a little bit to desire in the realm of believability. With a drawn-out conclusion that explains Zimit’s motives for the demonstration, the final scene is abrupt and a little bit random as it concludes with an abrupt death of one of the members of the group. This could connect back to the psychological stress of the final day of class, but it feels like there is more to the story. Even though this film was a limited release feature, it would be exciting to see it expanded to more theaters since it is so original and different from the typical apocalyptic flick or other big profit-generating movies. “After the Dark” maintains its intensity throughout even though the majority is in dream form, speaking truly to the passion and reality of one’s imagination.
