Del (Peter Dinklage) believes that he’s the only person alive following a mysterious apocalypse that’s wiped out the human race. He spends his days living in a small town, where he explores to find objects that are of use to him. Del soon finds out that he’s not the sole survivor when he meets Grace (Elle Fanning) who wants to stay with him. Wary of his new friend and unsure of what her motives are, Del cautiously tries to co-exist with Grace as he attempts to find out more about her.
I Think We’re Alone Now is the latest in a long line of apocalypse movies but it attempts to do something different. With a stellar cast headed up by Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage and The Beguiled’s Elle Fanning, the film looks at a post-apocalyptic world without giving any explanation as to what’s happened and why. In the first half it succeeds in unsettling you as Del is the lone figure wandering around his town. When he meets Grace, he’s thrown off-guard and her keenness to assist him makes him suspicious of her.
Things start to unravel in the second half once the film tries to be much clever than it’s able to be. Grace’s story slowly unwraps over the film’s 93-minute run time and there are few surprises with that plot. Where things get a bit silly is with a twist towards the end that doesn’t make any sense. The writer clearly thought that he was going to catch the audience off-guard and make their jaws drop but the actual affect is one of bemusement. Sadly that moment undoes all the good the film has achieved up to that point and renders the whole thing a bit pointless.
The cast aren’t at fault though. Dinklage is as watchable as ever and he makes a solid leading man here. Fanning continues to take unexpected roles and shows the versatility she has to offer as an actor. Paul Giamatti and Charlotte Gainsbourg add to the gravitas of the cast but they are under-served with poorly written roles. Their characters feel a bit forced upon you and you don’t get enough time with them to really form an opinion.
I Think We’re Alone Now has high hopes but sadly it falls short of achieving what it set out to do. Post-apocalyptic films seem to be the flavour of the day and I’ve seen better ones than this. It’s also fair to say that I’ve seen much, much worse. The direction by Reed Morano is solid enough but the script and story ultimately let it down. This film is by no means one you should avoid but I’d suggest you go in with low(ish) expectations so you might come out the other end pleasantly surprised.
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Elle Fanning, Paul Giamatti, Charlotte Gainsbourg Director: Reed Morano Writer: Mike Makowsky Certificate: 15 Duration: 93 mins Released by: The Movie Partnership Release date: 16th November 2018 Buy I Think We’re Alone Now
