Go North (2017)
Starring Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jacob Lofland, Sophie Kennedy Clark
Directed by Matthew Ogens
Kids in control of everything once the world comes to a virtual stop – frightening perspective, but nonetheless a possible one, according to director Matthew Ogens’ post-apocalyptic Go North. The downside here is that the film moves at such a deathly pace, and it hinders it from fully flexing its wings and taking off – step outside for the skinny.
Following a populous-reducing cataclysmic event, all that’s left to hold things down are the youngins – their loosely-knit community relies heavily on the instance of groupings. The popular kids (football team) are the controllers, using their once high-standing social status to bully and keep the lesser known kids in line with their rules and regulations. Religion is an afterthought, and punishment usually means you’ve got to walk the line once you’re cast out of the dictator’s colony. Josh, (Lofland) is one of those “lesser-known” souls that dreams of things the way they used to be, and alongside his gal-pal, Jessie (Clark), the two trudge through their existence inside the community, yet yearn for what could be outside of the society. As the duo struggle to keep their sanity at a floating level, constriction of the commune’s higher-ranking chieftains begin to tighten, and things become drastically more hostile, resulting in a swaying game of hide-and-seek between our hopeful couple, and the evil heads of the new society.
What saddens me is that with all the social commentary embedded within, the movie drags at an unrelenting tempo, and the audience is left with a bunch of sullen teens who slog their way though the remnants of their days, just trying to survive. Perspective-wise, the film is as beautiful as one you could hope to have seen, with numerous shots of hollowed-out buildings and dilapidated structures, all painting a sorrowful picture of what used to be. Still, with all of the constant reminders of gloom and doom that completely shroud the remaining survivors, there still isn’t much sense of impending distress, and it’s got its pros and cons – for those looking for some bell-ringing action and suspense, you’ll be let down – for those wanting a quiet, sedentary annotation of a possible peek into the future without all the blood and guts, then this flick might be in your wheelhouse.
Performances are safe, reserved, and, for the most part, manage to funnel some mollified emotion – who knows, when all is said and done, and all we’ve got left are the trees to talk to, maybe things won’t be so bad after all? I’d offer this one up for fans of gorgeous-looking cinema, but the remainder of end-of-the-world film buffs wanting some unharnessed violence might want to skip this northerly passage and traverse their way south.
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Film
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