From: manowarkills@NOSPAMnetscape.net

Domain (2016)

Wir & Dir: Nathaniel Atcheson

As an epidemic sweeps devastation across the globe, the World Health Organization builds half a million bunkers where the remaing population
will live out their lives until the air is scrubbed clean of the deadly contagion. Each bunker is built for one person and fully self contained
with food, water and electricity all available. The bunkers are grouped
into units of seven with each member of the unit only being able to
communicate via video feed with the others in their unit. There is no
other contact.

Years after the apocalypse we follow one unit through their day to day
routine. Calling each other by the city they are located in, Boston,
Chicago, Orlando and so on, they are one unhappy bickering family. The
long stretch of time has led to boredom, anger and frustration. Phoenix
(Britt Lower) and Denver (Ryan Merriman) have a thing for one another
and start to question their leader's do nothing attitude. The emotions
come to a head when one by one, members of the unit start disappearing
from their bunker.

The set up is intriguing. A group of strangers with no previous contact,
each a winner of a lottery to save their lives from the virus, having to
rely on one another while awaiting their fate in a confined state. Their
only method of communication is via video chat. However, what is
essentially a character driven piece (there's not much action until the
final reel or two) doesn't have characters that are engrossing. We learn
of their foibles, their fears and a bit of their past, but there isn't
enough there to be fully engaged for the entire running time. The acting
is fine but as we watch talking heads on a screen for a significant
amount of the run time I was expecting to find myself hanging on tho
their every word.

The gotcha, The twist. That M. Night Shyamalan thing. It's here. It's
obvious not only that the film is going to have a twist ending but also
what that twist ending will be. No shock here. It reminded me a great
deal of a low budget Canadian film that shall remain nameless so as not
to spoil this film.

DOMAIN is an OK watch. It moves along but is never gripping drama or
social commentary.

** out of ****

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)