Carriers Review

Written by: MistressOf Horror   

The very first thing to take into consideration is that this is not a horror film, if that's what you're looking for. The scares and gore are kept to a minimum, and the film works all the better for it. Because this plot and its progression have been done before, the avoidance of most genre trappings are really where it holds its water. How much water is totally up to interpretation.

The  simple plot is this: a vaguely sourced airborne pathogen has infected the population, and four (unlikely, in the scheme of things) survivors continue trying to survive, breathing masks in tow. Brian (Chris Pine) and Bobby (Piper Perabo) are an attractive young couple, together despite Brian being an immature jerk, which Pine plays with an intentionally annoying authority. With them are Brian's brainy brother Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci) and his undefined female friend Kate (Emily VanCamp). The foursome are on a perseverance road trip, one aimed for a hopefully abandoned hotel on a beach where the brothers vacationed with their parents in years before. The trip is hindered by a constant need to refuel, a duty that introduces them to Frank (Christopher Meloni) and his daughter Jodie ( Kiernan Shipka), two gasoline-less loners stranded in the middle of the open road. The key to sustained existence is power in numbers, and Jodie's case isn't aided by the fact that she is infected. Frank's goal is to get to a hospital where a cure has reportedly been discovered.

The actual action and goings-on in the film are admittedly few and far between. The infection doesn't create braindead carnivores, zipping around and racking up body counts. It rots people alive, which dulls the line between the living and the dead. These aspects of the "villains" may seem important from the offset, but that's before you get any real sense of the film's purpose, which is to document survival on a personal level. A darker side of human nature is showcased, and despite some bad dialogue and line readings, it works. One cannot deny the bleakness of the film. The wide shots in the empty southwest convey the proper feeling of spaced-out isolation, one where any outside movement at all can result in danger or relief.

The limited cast should be pleased with their efforts,  there was a clear chemistry among them, whether positive or negative. The two brothers had their set boundaries with one another, and some of the more interesting details of the film are those that are only hinted at about their family's past. and while the movie doesn't quite drag, it does crawl from some scenes to others.

So I definitely enjoyed it, even though it mildly copies similar movies. At least they're movies I dug. It was a pretty good movie to watch all in all