Nerdly » ‘After the Pandemic’ Review

25th Jan2022

‘After the Pandemic’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Eve James, Kannon Smith, Lelyn Mac | Written and Directed by Richard Lowry

Until the Scott Adkins actioner Seized I had never heard of writer/director Richard Lowry – who penned the 2020 related film – but I enjoyed that film so much that when I saw he’d not only written After the Pandemic but also directed, I had to check it out… Yeah, judging by this film however, it turns out Seized’s success may have been more down to veteran director Isaac Fiorentine rather than Lowry’s script.

The well-timed After the Pandemic follows Ellie (Eve James) a survivor of a global pandemic who spends her days roaming the empty streets, exploring houses foraging for food and keeping one step ahead of infected and the strange cadre of hazmat-suit wearing stalkers that are searching for survivors. During one confrontation with the stalkers, Ellie is saved by Quinn (Kannon Smith) and the two soon bond, working together to not only survive but to escape the clutches of the hazmat-suited villains and the city in which they roam.

The opening narration, a news report, that sets up where we are in terms of a global pandemic in the film (which is not THAT pandemic but feels 100% inspired by it) suggests a mutation in the UK ha had a worldwide effect… This says a lot about when this film was made and the feeling across the pond at the time. It’s an interesting reflection in a fictional film talking about the feelings and actions of people at the time of a real-world pandemic.

But that’s pretty much all the inspiration Lowry’s film takes from the current two-year-long real-work pandemic. His film posits a more life-threatening pandemic, one that leaves people dead and dying on the street, so many people that we can have a film featuring a young girl walking the towns and streets on her own, without anyone else in sight. The pandemic of Lowry’s film is much, MUCH, more lethal (the victims turning blood red with gaping sores all over their bodies) than our current real-world one – making this feel much more like the post-apocalyptic films of the 80s rather than a diatribe on current events.

The villains here are s shady group of hazmat-suit wearing, survivor chasing “scientists”, who are tracking those left alive in the hopes of capturing and testing them, all in the vain hope of finding a cure. A cure for a pandemic that looks, judging by the lack of characters in the film, like it’s already ravaged the global population and there are not that many people left to save! The hazmat-wearing stalkers use spy technology – the kind of “ear” system we’ve seen in a myriad of espionage movies, with characters listing in on conversations from miles away – to listen for the breathing of survivors; which is clearly a play on the silence of A Quiet Place… Yes, After the Pandemic certainly wears its inspiration on its proverbial sleeve that’s for sure.

But to compare After the Pandemic does a disservice to both films. Lowry’s cannot compete with the Hollywood-ized storytelling of that film and he doesn’t seek to. His film is more of the story of the two survivors, the two teens who find themselves thrown together out of necessity and how they cope in a bleak post-pandemic landscape. Well I say doesn’t seek to compete, but After the Pandemic can’t compete – unfortunately for Lowry he doesn’t have the budget to, nor the cast. It’s a shame Lowry couldn’t find a better cast as, up until we actually hear our two leads talk, the film is a taut thriller. However, once the script kicks in and our heroines start interacting, the tension falls apart and no matter how much music Lowry throws at his film it doesn’t ever regain the tense opening.

Speaking of music, we all know how much of an impact a good soundtrack can have on a film: it can make an average film better, up the tension in a horror film considerably, but it can also make a good film worse. And unfortunately for writer/director Lowry, that’s the case for After the Pandemic. The soundtrack feels over the top, as over the top as you’ll find in ridiculous Lifetime or Hallmark TV movies. Instead of adding to the film’s tension the soundtrack of this movie exaggerates everything, taking the proceedings into almost parody territory. Though I swear it was also inspired directly by the soundtrack of the 80s post-apocalyptic film Night of the Comet. In fact, if you replace this films pandemic with that films meteor you get the almost exact same films! Told you After the Pandemic wears its inspiration on its sleeve!

And as such, if you want to watch a film about people surviving in a post-apocalyptic world then you should definitely watch Night of the Comet instead!