Elevation

A black screen with people shouting warnings of things coming out of the ground and to move to higher levels, then shifts to three years later.

A boy up in the mountains is suddenly chased by barely seen monsters and only gets away when he reaches the height of 8,000 feet, as clearly marked. Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr) has had a narrow escape and admonished by his father Will (Anthony Mackie). Both have had to adjust to a back-to-basics life of hunting for food in the mountain wilderness as the now named ‘Reapers’ have wiped out the majority of the Earth’s population.

It’s an isolated existence though there are other communities surviving only passing below 8,000 feet when absolutely necessary.

But it’s a quest that Will, whose son has long term health problems has to make, for his medical supplies. Joining the mission are boozing scientist Nina (Morena Baccarin) and friend Katie (Maddie Hasson).

It’s a dangerous mission that goes wrong and they see a lot of more of the ‘Reapers’ than they wanted to and the viewer learns more about them and the people.

There’s a touch of A Quiet Place here with writers John Glenn, Jacob Roman, Kenny Ryan and director George Nolfi placing earth’s population in a situation where they are forced to abide by certain rules or die. However, there are some original ideas too. It also helps that its well-paced with some good action sequences and more information comes to light as the film progresses.

The characters are fairly stock for these sorts of things: desperate father will do what he has to for his family and brilliant scientist with issues who’s hit the bottle hard. Again these are developed but not to any great extent other than to move the story along rather than provide any empathy for them. And even then there are still a few questions left looking at a possible sequel, or prequel.

Technically the creatures look ok if a bit ropey at times, and there’s not a great deal of tension when you think there would be. However Nolfi makes the best of the stunning rural and mountain landscapes with some excellent camerawork from cinematographer Shelly Johnson.

Elevation will be available on digital from 8 February 2025.