Carriers (film)
| Carriers | |
|---|---|
 Promotional film poster | |
| Directed by | Àlex Pastor David Pastor |
| Written by | Àlex Pastor David Pastor |
| Produced by | Anthony Bregman Ray Angelic |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Benoît Debie |
| Edited by | Craig McKay |
| Music by | Peter Nashel Brick Garner |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Vantage |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $5,802,422[1] |
Carriers is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by Àlex and David Pastor. It stars Lou Taylor Pucci, Chris Pine, Piper Perabo and Emily VanCamp as four people fleeing a viral pandemic.
Plot
An infectious virus has spread worldwide, killing almost the entire population - this disease is spread by breath. Two brothers, Brian and Daniel "Danny" Green, along with Brian's girlfriend, Bobby, and Danny's school friend, Kate, are heading to Turtle Beach in the Southwestern United States, a secluded beach motel where they believe they can wait for the viral pandemic to die out and so they can start a new life. They strictly follow a set of rules that they believe will keep them all alive and stop them from becoming infected.
On their way there, they meet a man, Frank Holloway, and his infected young daughter Jodie, who are stranded in the middle of a deserted road due to their Suburban running out of fuel. After attempting to drive away from them, their car breaks down. The four end up returning to Frank in order to acquire his Chevrolet Suburban, and are forced to take Frank and Jodie to a nearby high school where a serum for the pandemic is rumored to have been developed. Upon arrival they discover that the serum does not work, and the only doctor still alive is about to commit suicide with a remaining group of infected children (whom he plans to kill through non-voluntary euthanasia). Meanwhile, Bobby is accidentally infected by Jodie while trying to help her when she coughs blood on her. She hides her infection from the others by wiping her face and hiding her blood covered shirt. Jodie tells her father that she needs the toilet, however she can't walk there alone due to the illness. Frank carries Jodie to the toilet, telling Danny that he knows he's a good person. However, Brian leaves Frank and Jodie behind and takes their car.
After this, they stop at a golf course hotel. Brian almost becomes infected after nearly slipping into a swimming pool containing the body of an infected man, however Danny manages to grab him in time. Bobby talks herself into believing she is not infected, as she is still unsure that Jodie's blood infected her. However, despite Bobby's efforts to prevent it, Brian kisses her and inadvertently infects himself. Bobby berates Kate for believing her parents may still be alive, and suddenly a small group of armed survivalists, who are using the golf course as a base, ambush and capture the group. After a tense Mexican standoff, they declare their intent to keep the girls. As they force the girls to disrobe to check them for infection, they discover Bobby's rashes and bruises and force them away at gunpoint. Kate stresses that they will end up dead if Bobby continues to travel with them, and Brian ends up leaving a weeping Bobby behind at a deserted gas station.
They almost run out of fuel but encounter two women heading in the opposite direction to them. After Brian blocks the road with their SUV, Danny asks for help, stating that he has a pregnant wife in the car and that he is a fellow Christian, but they refuse. A desperate Brian shoots them for their fuel when they try to drive away, and ends up being shot in the leg himself. Danny breaks into a seemingly abandoned house in search of medical supplies to treat his brother's wound, and he is forced to shoot a stray dog that attempts to attack him.
Danny soon discovers that his brother is also infected after tending to Brian's shot wound. Kate urges Danny to leave Brian whilst he is sleeping, but as the two try to leave Brian wakes up and it is discovered that he has the car keys. Brian refuses to give Danny the correct car keys unless he can continue to travel with them, despite Danny's pleas. Brian admits that he doesn't want to end up alone like the rest of the infected and tells Danny to shoot him if he wants the keys. At Brian's urging, Danny shoots Brian and burns his mask and infected body. Afterwards, Danny and Kate reach Turtle Beach.
Cast
- Lou Taylor Pucci as Danny
- Chris Pine as Brian
- Piper Perabo as Bobby
- Emily VanCamp as Kate
- Christopher Meloni as Frank
- Kiernan Shipka as Jodie
- Mark Moses as Doctor
Production
Filmed in New Mexico in late 2006, Carriers was not released by Paramount Vantage until September 2009, following the success of Pine's appearance in Star Trek, released earlier in 2009.[2][3]
Release
Carriers was released on September 4, 2009, in US cinemas.[4] The DVD followed on December 29, 2009.[5] It grossed $908,000 in US and $5,802,422 worldwide.[1]
Awards and nominations
Kiernan Shipka was nominated for 'Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress' at the Young Artist Awards (2010).[6]
Reception
Up to March 2015, Carriers received mixed reviews on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews with a 64% 'Fresh' rating. The movie was praised for its story, theme and acting performance but the critics focus on the movie's ending.
Rob Nelson, a top critic from Variety wroye, "Put into extremely limited release by Paramount Vantage after spending years in studio lockdown, Carriers has moments of genuinely communicable horror and thus deserves better than a de facto theatrical quarantine." Paul Chambers from CNN Radio said, "A little more realistic than a zombie flick. Some renegade virus could make the world a "survival of the fittest" ordeal. A very interesting story with some nice reveals". Charles Cassady from Common Sense Media said: "Gloom, not thrills, in sci-fi drama of worldwide plague."[7]
References
- ^ a b Carriers at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
- ^ Chrissinger, Craig W. (September 2009). "Carriers of the wasteland". Fangoria. No. 286. New York. p. 32.
- ^ Carriers at HorrorMovies.ca
- ^ Exclusive Clip: Carriers
- ^ Carriers Carried to DVD this December
- ^ 31st Annual Young Artist Awards. Retrieved May 1, 2012
- ^ Carriers on Rotten Tomatoes, Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved September 16, 2011
External links
- Official website
- Carriers at IMDb
- Carriers at Rotten Tomatoes
- Carriers at Yahoo! Movies
- Interview with David and Alex Pastor at Twitchfilm