Friend of the World (2020) User Reviews

Solid Indie Production That Shows Great Potential

[coreympike · 6/10 · 2 December 2022]

**Disclaimer - I have a friend who works with a person involved in this production***

When it comes to micro-budget indie movies from younger filmmakers, I think the main thing you need to look for is potential. I didn't ask what the budget for Friend of the World was, but to the movie's credit I spent most of the short 50-minute run time not thinking about the movie's budget. The movie deals with some lofty ideas but does so on a micro, human level. Regarding the film's budget, the script is very budget-friendly in that most of the story takes place with two characters, in settings which are conducive to money saving measures. Luckily, these decisions don't bring down the viewing experience. In fact, some of the FX in the movie hit above the budget's weight class. In smaller movies like this a special effect can be the kiss of death with audiences who are used to seeing CGI that could cost a million dollars for 30 seconds of screen time. But the special effects in this are tasteful, and most importantly, not distracting.

The cinematography overall is quite proficient. There are a few standout shots which are excellent. There is a scene between The General and (the cleverly named) Diane Keaton in which The General delivers his lines within the darkness, with very little definition in his facial features. The shot is expressive, moody and well done. A lot of times the camera is taken out of the actor's way and let's them just do their thing. But, there are quite a few images that standout within the movie.

The story is a dystopian future which allows societal themes to be explored. There is an element of the undead but the story does a good job of not leaning into tropes. There are also some experimental flourishes that could be divisive to some viewers, but mostly they seemed to work for me.

With smaller budgets like this the first victim is usually the acting. The two leads in this are pretty solid. The standout is Alexandra Slade's facial acting at the conclusion. Without dialogue she shows a loss and heartbreak that makes me hope she continues to find bigger acting roles.

As stated in the beginning, with indies we are looking for potential. I think this movie shows filmmakers with a lot of promise. I'm looking forward to seeing them grow and hope they are able to increase their budgets as I'd be interested in seeing what these individuals could produce.

Really interesting

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 5 February 2023]

As a global war begins to burn itself out, a young filmmaker named Diane (Alexandra Slade) is trapped in a military bunker with the increasingly unhinged General Gore (Nick Young). That's a simple explanation for this film's plot but it gets much stranger than that sentence.

Director and writer Brian Patrick Butler has made something that lives up to its prophetic tagline: Just because you are saved, doesn't mean you're safe. This is neither all comedy or all horror or all political but all those things jammed into a cocktail of so many more ingredients, like body horror and the stated influences of Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre, John Carpenter and David Cronenberg.

What starts in a bunker filled with dead bodies and ends up with the two diametrically opposed characters finally engaging in conflict, this movie gets absolutely wild and does so in a black and white look that is positively jarring and, of course, causes one to think of the Twilight Zone but here it's a positive connection. Or propaganda films, which this movie goes out of its way to show the two sides of.

In just fifty minutes, this gets some big ideas out there and has two leads who are more than up to the task of the heavy dialogue they've been given. This is definitely worth watching, as is where Butler takes his career next.

Limited but with some good things about it

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 24 December 2022]

This is one of those very rare feature films whose runtime is too long for a short but pretty short for a feature, but given its very low budget origins and lo-fi set-up, its probably a sensible length overall. It's a post-apocalyptic zombie film in which two characters from opposing viewpoints in life are thrust together for survival; this leads to the usual friction you may expect. Given the low budget origins, the set-up is unsurprising pretty limited with that good old setting used in many a micro-budget feature, the underground bunker providing the backdrop. The cast is very small too, with only the two leads really having much to do. The restrictive nature of the production does result in a movie which does have a stagey, theatrical nature to it. Nevertheless, there is a bit of imagination here and the effects were quite good. This small-scale film was always going to be limited but it does show some ambition and is one which should offer something to those who appreciate this sub-genre overall.

Only a friend of the first half

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 22 December 2022]

"Friend of the World" is an American English-language live action film from 2020, so still relatively recent without being super new and fresh. I guess at minimally over 50 minutes, it is not really inside short film territory anymore, but already falls into the full feature category. The writer and director is Brian Patrick Butler, usually a prolific actor as he has been in front of the camera for years, but here and there you also find him penning and directing his own (short) films as the man in charge of the project. This is one of those examples. In front of the camera, you may have seen him in big projects like Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" or on the small screen's "This Is Us" if you paid close enough attention. Today, however, we take a look at what he did when shooting the film "Friend of the World" from two years ago. Not in front of the camera this time. Nick Young and Alexandra Slade took care of that as they are the two leads in this film, Slade perhaps slightly bigger lead, even if she did not get first credit. She also acted before this film, but has not been too prolific since her debut in 2015. With Young there is a bigger chance you came across him in other projects. He also acted alongside Butler in the very recent release "Mike & Fred vs The Dead".

Away from that one, this 2020 film we have here is for the first half basically almost like a stage play with major focus on the two key characters. This is also where I felt the film was at its best. The introduction to the entire scenario was as mysterious as it was interesting when we see the female protagonist there in this mess with dead bodies lying everywhere around her. Well, one was not so dead as it turned out. These first ten minutes are also the reason why I would pick Slade over Young in terms of who is the bigger lead. He is not in the film there yet. It is pretty cleanly structured though. We have five segments of ten minutes each and every single one of those also gets their own title with white letters written on black background. Different chapters. Anyway, with this beginning what happens there and maybe also the female protagonist's looks, she reminded me a bit of one character/actress from "The Walking Dead" who also enjoyed some success again with the recent "Black Panther" movie. I am sure I was not the only one who thought so. For all I cared, the film could have stayed a mere character elaboration of the two protagonists and ran for half an hour only because I felt that the more the film went on the more it lacked focus. Basically, I am talking about the introduction of additional supporting characters who contribute something during these ten-minute segments. No matter if we are talking about the guy who has one line in Spanish, about the creature that literally comes right out of another character (like physically) or if we are talking about the female character's girlfriend, nothing really won me over there.

At the very end of the film, it is again back to basics. The relationship between the two protagonists is elaborated on again. This was critical at the very beginning (or second segment I should say) when they met and we could never really be sure if the guy is a lunatic or just a bit on the crazy side and making the most of this apocalyptic scenario with the help of his military background. This mounted basically in the not exactly sensitive statement (or rather how he depicted it was not too sensitive) on how lesbians can become biological mothers too. However, as the film went on, this was not a conflict at all anymore really because we see the two are getting along better or at least there is no more real dangerous tension between them and then there is this revelation at the end that the guy is apparently indeed really insane with what he does at the aforementioned movie theater and the audience there. This did come out of nowhere and I am not sure I liked it. But the fact that he is then shot by the female protagonist was not a huge surprise, or at least not that he died. There was some kind of foreshadowing going on when he mocks her in the early stages of their relationship about how he is so strong and tough that he will always find a way to survive, but she on the other hand is so powerless and helpless according to him. It was bound to happen. The only unclear thing was how he would die. It felt a bit too easy though how she takes care of him eventually unless we say he really had a suicide wish. Or assisted suicide wish. And also did not make too much sense to me that he was suddenly totally crazy again with how he even seemed fairly normal in those scenes before that and kinda scared and worried for the first time even when they run into other haunting scenarios.

To still end the review on a positive note, I liked the idea of how characters are melting with each other here. Physically in fact, especially through their faces I could add. It was also a nice elaboration when it happens to the male protagonist and he gets out of the situation and says something like how she must not worry because he is not infected or anything now. There are no zombie genes inside him now like it is always the case otherwise in these films. He was just back to normal quickly afterwards. On a completely different note, the inclusion of Beethoven's music is always appreciated. I liked it more at the very beginning though. I am not sure it fit so well with the scene later on when it is used to enforce some dramatic tension. By the way, wasn't it the guy there who saved the girl? So it made even less sense what happened in the end then. And him simply being unpredictable in his actions is not good enough of an explanation for me. Then he also could have killed her in the end and added her to his movie-goer group. Actually, I would have liked that ending more. Overall, I have to give the film a thumbs-down and negative recommendation, even if I liked the idea of shooting it in black-and-white. Not just here, but I dig b&w in general. The one moment when color is included almost at the very end still did not feel as memorable to me as I would have liked it to be. The drop in overall quality in general in the second half was too much for me to be more generous with my rating here. I am a bit conflicted given the film's running time: On the one hand, I would have liked the film to go longer because it needed more screen time to properly elaborate on some fairly rushed scenarios, on the other hand I was glad it was over because it just wasn't any good anymore for almost half an hour. I guess genre lovers can still give it a go. It's not a failure by any means.

A STYLISH AND BIZARRE THRILLER THAT INVIGORATES THE ZOMBIE GENRE!

[randavids · 10/10 · 29 August 2020]

What kind of film would you get if David Lynch made Night of the Living Dead? We may never know, but "Friend of The World" comes the closest. Shot entirely in black and white, this isn't your typical post apocalyptic zombie thriller. Its strange stylish 1960's vibe, along with edgy performances, twists, turns, and effective special effects propel this film beyond the same old same old of the end of the world zombie genre. "A Friend of the World" will make you think and question reality, as it takes you on a wild and trippy ride. Just go with it and enjoy the journey. It's definitely worth your time and not to be missed.

Does not go the way you think

[jburquist-639-757678 · 8/10 · 14 December 2022]

Friend of the World was a surprisingly good low budget indie film. I watched the film on TUBI which is becoming a pretty damn good streaming service. It's sort of a horror film with some meta and darkly comedic elements mixed in.

Production design is fairly basic, but you can tell they constructed a set or two which is pretty cool. Special FX are pretty good as well. Nick Young brings the fun and comedy while Alexandra Slade.

I would recommend this film for horror fans or just people who are interested in a project that lines multiple genres. Friend of the World's indie roots are punk rock. You will not see a film like this coming from Hollywood.

Amazing frightening atmosphere

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 8/10 · 15 January 2023]

It's quite difficult to leave me scarred or immensely connected with horror films for plenty of reasons, among them is that I can only believe or trust the story if the dramatic dynamic works. "Friend of the World" has such benefit since there is a very good dramatic story going on, it's gripping and well-acted all the way even with some bumps here and there.

A young filmmaker (Alexandra Slade) wakes up in this strange place filled with corpses not knowing anything until the appearance of menacing slightly helpful Gore (Nick Young), a military who gives her instruction on how to survive in this bunker-like space where they are trapped during a post-apocalyptical world. And if Gore doesn't seem a guy to be trusted due to his manic behavior and loud rants - there's some Sterling Hayden in Dr. Strangelove kind of vibe going on with this man - then there are worst out there, with some creature and other dangerous situations with only leave the woman in affliction while the military tries to keep things in order, when he's not creeping out on her.

Throughout the picutre, I could never say there were predictable moments or anything, and it's all very curious to watch. It's very claustrophobic, monochromatic in a scary way, and even with a limited budget the makers manage to create something unique, frightening, with good use of some dark twisted humor. And Slade is an excellent presence, you really feel connected with her character's ordeals while Gore is completely unpredictable from one moment to next. I definitely recommend this for fans of apocalyptical genre since it tells a lot about the tools of survival and the painful difficult in trusting other people rather than yourself. Sometimes we're better off alone. 8/10.