The post-apocalypse genre is my favourite, as I think I’d thrive in such an environment — mostly because I own a lot of leather and because I will eat anything.
Two couples are hiding out in a cabin after society has broken down. We don’t know how it crumbled, we just know that it did. The couples have no contact with anyone outside of their neighbours. There are police, but they are little more than thieves with badges — which brings me to my next point: Survival=Guns.
The characters quickly realize that when the end of the world comes a’knockin at your door, you better open the door with a shotgun in your hand. One woman refuses to let her boyfriend get a gun because she believes that guns lead to violence.
However, in an uncivilized world, guns also lead to food.
Without any weapons, the characters starve. As the movie progresses, their plates become emptier (I felt guilty munching on popcorn).
But hunger is not the only concern. Cabin living is cramped and the couples become stressed by the close quarters. Then stuff really hits the fan when it’s revealed that two of the characters are having an affair. (Strange, I don’t remember adultery being that high on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs).
One Hundred Mornings is an interesting contribution to the post apocalyptic genre but it pales in comparison to 2009’s The Road. The kitchen sink approach is innovative for here but it puts all the heavy lifting on the actors.
Unfortunately the dialogue and plot don’t require too much out of the characters, leaving the movie flat and repetitive in places.
As an aside, I actually saw The Road on a first date. During the movie, my date began to weep.
Embarrassed at his tears, he tried to explain by sobbing, “You don’t understand because you don’t have children.”
Clearly, he would not make it through the apocalypse; he was lucky he made it out of the theatre.
