Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Charming and brutal

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I read some of these reviews and I wonder if A)These people saw the same movie I just wasted my time with or B) The family and friends of the people who made and starred in this wrote them. This is one of the worst films I've seen in the Apocalyptic genre. Just a terrible, boring, badly shot, badly acted, poorly plotted mess of a movie. The way these people are (and no, I'm not expecting every survivor to be Rick Grimes and company), they shouldn't have survived the first ten minutes of this disaster. They are careless, and constantly do silly and dangerous things. The world is collapsing, they find a dead kid in a car and take the time to care for the body? Who gives a damn. In the apocalyptic world, dead is dead. Move on. The acting was so wooden that it seemed Gepetto carved these people out of a tree. Want to see a good movie? Don't start here.

Writer/Director Justin McConnel has brought one of the most powerful post-apocalyptic films ever made to the screen with a stunning creativity and near poetry. This is a motion picture that takes cinema by the throat and shakes it senseless with its intensity. Haunting imagery and stunning cinematography enhance the sense of unease that permeates each scene. Beautifully filmed and magnificently scored, The Collapsed tells the moving and haunting story of a family fighting for survival after an apocalyptic event sends them on a journey in search of safety. John Fantasia is superb as the father responsible for his beloved wife and children and it is the performance of a lifetime, sure to catapult him to stardom. Ann Moule as his wife is also outstanding and gives her character depth and humanity. As the film progresses, the tension becomes almost unendurable, the intense, disturbing environment overwhelming. There is a surreal quality to the Canadian locations and this serves to make an unreal situation even more other worldly. The brilliant screenplay builds the horror until the ultimate in shattering motion picture climaxes. What this small film company has achieved on a minimal budget is astonishing and this films originality and creativity renews one's faith in independent cinema.

I watched a German synchronisation and have to say, watch it without prejudice and judge for yourself. But if you are into that kind of genre (the world is ending), it is really good. OK, some scenes (like the daughter going off for shaving her legs) are kind of unrealistic, but then, the atmosphere, the tension, I think all of it made the movie well worth watching. Ignore the bad reviews, people admit they did not watch the whole movie so how can they reasonably judge it ? Respect to the director, producer and the actors for having made a good movie with little money. Even the soundtrack at times fits very well. Go watch it, and enjoy.

*Spoilers are very mild* Low budget Candian film (IMDB says $150,000. If that's Canadian dollars, that works out at about five shillings) that follows a family as they amble through a seemingly limitless countryside, trying to find somewhere safe after an unspecified apocalyptic event.The slow reveal as to the nature of the event is where the film eventually concludes, in a somewhat less than cheery fashion.It's well shot, well acted and well paced. The only flaw, and I'm willing to forgive it considering the budget, is the free-form sounding, trumpet-heavy soundtrack. Although I might just dislike trumpets.I've decided, yup, trumpets are definitely bastards. So you should seek this out and give it a go. It's good.8.5/10 Originally at: http://filmplop.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/160512-collapsed-2011.html