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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 15

Cast Chris Pine Piper Perabo Christopher Meloni Emily VanCamp.

Directors Alex Pastor David Pastor.

Screenwriters Alex Pastor David Pastor.

Running Time 84 minutes

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Carriers
Four friends flee a pandemic

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Plot
Four survivors of a flesh-dissolving plague, led by hothead Brian (Pine), are driving to the coast on an empty freeway. When they’re flagged down by a man asking for help, the encounter brings them an unwanted passenger and an unwelcome detour...

Review
The end of the world IS a never-ending thing... Not so much off-schedule as coming 28 Movies Later, Carriers is the latest in a long line of fear-of-infection movies that, like the nuke horrors of the ’80s, have dominated the past decade. Still, how’s this for mainstream nihilism? Just in case you feel the kids are missing out, here’s some viral pestilence for all the family — a PG-style apocalypse.

Carriers has had a few problems passing studio quarantine itself. All set for release in 2007, you suspect the sudden turnaround is due to the increased visibility of Chris Pine; ironic considering he spends half the movie with a flu mask clamped to his face.

Stripped free of exposition, Carriers presents a land already pre-decimated. There’s no world to save because it’s already gone, and a slow, steady panic has set in. Armed with a gun, a can of disinfectant and a set of commandments (“Follow them you live, break them, you die”), Brian (Pine) and brother Danny (Pucci) are driving their girlfriends to a coastal retreat to escape not just the outbreak but their fellow survivors. As one grisly encounter rolls into the next, it becomes apparent that while the backdrop shrieks apocalypse, in spirit, it’s a road movie.

So, if you’ve come for visceral zombie thrills, you’re in the wrong film. While there are dashes of body horror (man-eating dogs, blood-gurgling plague kids), Carriers offers the kind of scares the BBFC would class as “mild apocalyptic peril”. In its place is a stealthier suspense, bedded in the stark dilemmas of survival and an altogether weightier issue: the death of trust. Most apocalypse movies assemble a band of strangers; here, directors Alex and David Pastor aim their focus on a closely knit group that unravels in surprisingly engaging ways. Pine and cast do a good job maintaining tension, but what the film lacks is a sense of urgency. Here’s a movie so pulseless about the holocaust that it actually stops off to play golf. It’s full of odd decisions like that (even its bleakest scenes are shot in sun-drenched exteriors), but it’s also what sets it apart; a steady drama in a scrapey, chasey genre, and certainly more thoughtful than the usual histrionic yukfests. As an alt-apocalypse, it’s worth catching — although if the person next to you starts sneezing, you might want to find another seat...

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Average user rating for Carriers

Simply "ok". No strong feelings one way or the other. Pine did a good job at acting like a complete a-hole. Perabo was surprisingly pretty solid. The other two leads, mainly the guy, were atrocious. That said, the whole thing came together pretty well given the problems it had to overcome. Pretty uneven but emotionally engaging at times. ... More

Posted by Turd Ferguson at 19:45, 13 January 2012 | Report This Post

Okay But Not One To Remember.

Carriers isn't a totally awful film, nor a outstanding one. The suspense was there, it kept me on the edge of my seat and was something different to watch. But I didn't feel anything for the characters (Chris Pine's pefomance was the worst out of the lot.) He is the only reason that this film came out, if Star Trek didn't do well it would be just a another straight to DVD movie. It was low budget, no real proper story and the ending just ends. It's not one to keep but something to check out for ... More

Posted by joanna likes films at 15:24, 03 April 2010 | Report This Post

Okay But Not One To Remember.

Carriers isn't a totally awful film, nor a outstanding one. The suspense was there, it kept me on the edge of my seat and was something different to watch. But I didn't feel anything for the characters (Chris Pine's pefomance was the worst out of the lot.) He is the only reason that this film came out, if Star Trek didn't do well it would be just a another straight to DVD movie. It was low budget, no real proper story and the ending just ends. It's not one to keep but something to check out for ... More

Posted by joanna likes films at 15:24, 03 April 2010 | Report This Post

Could be seen as a teenage version of "The Road", as four friends try to get to the coast after a virus wipes out most of the population. It keeps the horror to a minimum and instead works as a well crafted character study. the only downside is the annoying performance by Chris Pine ... More

Posted by duncan1964 at 09:18, 10 February 2010 | Report This Post

Could be seen as a teenage version of "The Road", as four friends try to get to the coast after a virus wipes out most of the population. It keeps the horror to a minimum and instead works as a well crafted character study. the only downside is the annoying performance by Chris Pine ... More

Posted by duncan1964 at 09:18, 10 February 2010 | Report This Post

post apocalyptic floop

dont get me wrong i love my apocalypse films, they intrigue me, i like having conversations about what i'd do in that situation, but this is a zombie film without any bloody zombies, where's the fun in that, at no point during this film do the characters feel as if they are in any real danger, just don't go anywhere near people with the infection sorted, at any rate this could have done much more, 3 stars for the plot but in the long run it had more potential. ... More

Posted by Mikeyjoewhit at 15:13, 03 January 2010 | Report This Post

I think 3 stars was just about right for this one, and the review was very accurate too. Ironically there was a BIG laugh in the screening I was at, when the young Girl, after hitting a good Golf shot said " Tiger Woods can kiss my Arse "......how very apt, Eh !!!!........ ... More

Posted by n13roy at 22:47, 16 December 2009 | Report This Post

Dull, dull, dull

Dull film that clearly had no point. Characters i couldn't identify with, nor feel any real pity for, nor care for. For a band of survivors who from the onset of the film try to establish that everyone is dead; they don't half come across a lot of people. The virus lacked believability, menace or any real causality. No back story, rumours, or hearsay made it hard to accept. I hope the world isn't struck down with a plague like this, for i would surely die of boredom first. ... More

Posted by silent_dave at 22:06, 14 December 2009 | Report This Post

Carriers

A decent little film, if betrayed by its modest budget and the feeling it's only got a release because of Chris Pine's new found fame. Tight, taut and suitably bleak but you can't help there was a little more of a threat - looters and such are glimpsed and encountered but there never seems a great sense of danger. ... More

Posted by Timon at 21:31, 13 December 2009 | Report This Post

Carriers

A decent little film, if betrayed by its modest budget and the feeling it's only got a release because of Chris Pine's new found fame. Tight, taut and suitably bleak but you can't help there was a little more of a threat - looters and such are glimpsed and encountered but there never seems a great sense of danger. ... More

Posted by Timon at 21:29, 13 December 2009 | Report This Post

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