ONE HUNDRED MORNINGS REVIEW

Just when you think you’ve seen all the apocalypse style movies you can, along comes One Hundred Mornings. Gone are the alien attacks, gone are the dinosaur rampages and in, is the actual reality of what it all might really look like. The complete breakdown of society where small pockets of friends fight for food and survival, and will do anything to do that.

I’ll be honest and say I didn’t know a great deal about One Hundred Mornings as it slipped under my radar, but I’m bloody well impressed. I’m a sucker for these end of the world / breakdown of society movies and One Hundred Mornings certainly impresses. It follows the story of 2 couples who are hiding out in a cabin in rural nowhere who are increasingly faced with a bunch of dilemmas. Besides the inevitable “whens the food gonna run out?”, they have to contend with the nearby locals who are also on a quest for survival. Couple that with escalating tensions between them all and you get a movie that draws you in from the get go, and doesn’t really let up.

As for the actual movie itself, the first thing that will hit you is how beautifully shot the whole thing is. Without getting artsy fartsy about it, the cinematography is a sight to behold. But when things break away from the luscious lakes and greenery and arrive in the local village, this is also treated like a work of art. Complete societal breakdown is treated subtlety as bags and litter surround the one street local village, complete with a smattering of locals, including 2 cops who would make the mafia look like choir boys.
This is Conor Horgans debut feature and to his enormous credit he keeps this movie at a incredibly solid and almost page turning pace.

With a movie that is on a limited budget, with limited locations ( no matter how stunning) the cast have to be top notch, otherwise the whole thing won’t stick together.And I’m glad to say, the cast are more than top notch. Ciaran McMenamin (The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce), Alex Reid (The Descent) Rory Keenan (Intermission), and Kelly Campbell (Bachelors Walk) do a phenomenal job at keeping you glued to the screen and are thoroughly convincing as a bunch of people on the brink of extinction.

Overall, One Hundred Mornings is a very welcome addition to cinema screens. It’s different, it has a solid story with great pace and is a must watch that will have you completely gripped. If I had to be critical (and it’s not really a criticism), its that we never really know what has happened to society and why it has completely broken down, but then again, it’ll have you thinking and guessing about it for some time to come, which again is testament to a pretty damn fine film!

Director: Conor Horgan
Starring: Ciaran McMenamin, Alex Reid,  Rory Keenan, and Kelly Campbell
Running Time: 83 minutes
Certificate: 15A IRE/
Released: May 6th 2011 (IRE)

 

ONE HUNDRED MORNINGS from Bl!nder Films on Vimeo.