Here Alone recently won the audience award at Tribeca, and we can certainly see why. The movie is simply amazing!

Here Alone movie posterIt’s a quiet and lonely world for our main character, Ann, but in flashbacks, we find out how she ended up alone – and also, why she’s perfectly content to stay Here Alone. As we’ve learned from a lot of zombie movies – and in particular zombie TV shows like The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead – it’s never the dead, you need to truly fear. It’s the very living and untrustworthy living, breathing human beings.

Of course, Ann (Lucy Walters) still misses some company, so when she comes across a girl and her stepfather, who are in dire need of help, she ends up helping them. We all know this is probably the beginning of her end, however, it’s not that simple. So please, don’t worry, this isn’t some strange psycho-drama and isn’t a slow-burner going nowhere either. This is a true horror thriller, where you find yourself constantly guessing people’s motives – and second-guessing yourself over and over again.

You won’t see a zombie for a long time, but you will hear them, and that’s a perfect way to build suspense and set the tone of Here Alone as something other than yet another zombie slasher movie. For most of the movie, it’s a bit like watching 28 Days Later (2002), if it had taken place in the woods instead of the big city of London. For the record, 28 Days Later is one of my all-time favorite horror movies and I can still recall the feeling I had when watching that movie in a dark theater. There’s just something that works really well when you only have a few characters to worry about and it’s not about the action, but the drama. Because come on, this is still a zombie movie at heart, so you will get to see zombies as well. Lots of them… and they’re hungry since we’re out in the middle of nowhere.

It almost pains me to say this, but I do feel that Here Alone works in all the ways What We Become ended up missing the mark. What We Become is from my native Denmark, so I feel protective of that particular movie, which definitely also had some great moments (you can read our review of What We Become right here). With Here Alone I feel it remains true to the drama, and nothing feels forced. Sure, you’ll get annoyed at some of the plot developments, but they’re annoyingly realistic.

The film stars a lot of unfamiliar faces, but really, that just adds to the realistic feel of the movie. The star of the movie is Ann, who is portrayed with such intensity and elegance by Lucy Walters (maybe you’ll recognize her from the TV show Power), that you can’t help but feel like you’re in her corner from the very beginning. As the story unfolds, we meet her husband, who is the one face most people will probably recognize, since he’s played by Shane West (currently starring in the TV series Salem). Also, Adam David Thompson is in Here Alone and you might know him from Mozart in the Jungle. The largely unknown cast might not help in terms of getting people to watch it, but that won’t matter once word gets out about how creepy and powerful the story itself is. And winning the audience award at Tribeca is a huge step in that direction!

Rod Blackhurst directed Here Alone and this marks his feature film debut, and what a way to start out. Of course, Blackhurst has done a lot of short films, so being a director is nothing new, but this is one Hell of a strong debut. The same goes for the writer of the script, David Ebeltoft, who created an amazing screenplay for Here Alone, which resulted in this truly remarkable film.

Here Alone had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival on April 15, 2016. We’ll keep you updated on future film festival participation and release dates because you do not want to miss this movie! UPDATE! The movie will be out in select theaters and on VOD on March 31, 2017.

While you wait for your chance to watch Here Alone, you can check out some of Rod Blackhurst’s short films on Vimeo.

Details

Director: Rod Blackhurst
Writer: David Ebeltoft
Cast: Lucy Walters, Shane West, Adam David Thompson, and Gina Piersanti

Plot

A young woman struggles to survive on her own in the wake of a mysterious epidemic that has decimated society and forced her deep into the unforgiving wilderness.

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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