Now I know a lot of people, including myself, have and use Netflix. So I thought I might be cool to try and do a Netflix review (at least once a month) as most people can’t always get to the cinema and see the newest releases. I think Netflix is a great alternative to the cinema in many ways. Sure it doesn’t have all the latest movies and tv shows but it has a lot of content that I have always wanted to watch and never got around to actually seeing. It’s a great way to just sit comfortably at home and watch things that you love. Not to mention, the content that Netflix actually produce is usually really good. That’s why I have chosen to talk about the Netflix original film “Extinction” this month.
So I didn’t really know what to expect; unlike many other Netflix originals (e.g. 13 reasons why/Riverdale/etc) I hadn’t really heard of it. I haven’t seen any advertisements pushing this film or social media buzz around it. This made me kind of sceptical and I sort of assumed that maybe it was completely rubbish and not many people liked it. However I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The premise of the film is “Plagued by dreams of an alien invasion, a family man faces his worst nightmare when a extraterrestrial force begins exterminating Earth’s inhabitants”. That’s all I had to go off and silly old me thought well that seems like a pretty straight forward film. You’ve got a family man who has visions about an alien invasion coming and then it actually happens; will they or won’t they survive?!? Of course it’s not as simple as will they or won’t they survive!! This film has a major plot twist which I didn’t see coming at all. They kept me guessing and I was there trying to figure it out how everything fits together right up until the end of the film. I can’t tell you what the twist is because SPOILERS and well I simply do not want to ruin it for you. I want you to have your own experience like I did. However I can say it is a good twist!
The actors did a good job portraying the characters in this film as well. They had Micheal Pena, Lizzy Callan, Mike Colter, all faces I recognised from other films and tv shows I have watched. However none of them are massive Hollywood actors/actresses which I felt worked for the film. If they had used a massive actor like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt it may have taken away from the story the film was trying to tell. Even though this particular character annoyed the shit out of me, I must commend the youngest member of the family little Erica Tremblay who played Lucy. At the mere age of 8 years old, she played a very convincing terrified child. Yes, of course, most of you are just going to sit there and say well all she had to do is cry. I would disagree; an actress, at the young age of 8, had to act completely and utterly terrified and not just by crying all the time. She had to act petrified, she had to act lost, she had to convince the audience that she was actually a normal 8 year old girl in the middle of an alien invasion. Most kids wouldn’t have the maturity to be able to dig so deep and portray the kinds of reactions she did. I think it really hit me how wonderful her acting was when the extraterrestrial came right up to her face and she looked truly terrified. The only reason her character annoyed me was because her character made the same stupid decisions that we have seen children make in most horror/thriller films. I was screaming at the screen when she left the safety of the wardrobe where her mother had told her not to leave just to retrieve her most beloved toy. But hey, these are all cliches that have been used and still work towards the film genres.
Lastly I want to touch on the aesthetic of the film. It was really pleasant to watch this film; not only because of the way the set of this film looked but also the colours that were used. The set was beautiful. I like how the story was actually set in the future of the human race. It is very plausible that we could have the weirdly shaped architectural glass buildings, perfect straight concrete walkways, no traffic and clean monotoned lifestyles. The satisfaction of this future world made the story feel much more believable with all the other elements of the storyline e.g. the possibility of an alien invasion, etc. However this clean and perfect world gave even more of an impact when it was destroy in the fighting that came with the invasion. The contrast between clean, white, perfect city which later turns into rumble, dark wasteland works very well. It also really worked when they introduced colour into the shots. Whether that was actual physical colour within the scene or a lighting choice, it made the whole world seem more sophisticated and futuristic which again made it all so much more believable. It was as if we were looking at an ideal world which we all hope to have in the future.
Unfortunately I can’t say much more without giving away too much. What I can say is that I was pleasantly surprised and I really enjoyed the film both visually and intellectually. Again, I’m not sure why I was surprised because Netflix usually produced really good quality content anyway but I was. If your looking to watch a good new Netflix original film, I would definitely suggest this one. It’s got a bit of everything: Sci-fi, action, thriller, survival, family, alien invasions, blaster guns, etc. Thumbs up from me!
We are back to the cinema next week and will have a review on another new release. We’re thinking “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”….
Mean Productions 