Z/Web

In some ways this film was exactly what I expected: the plot is a bare bones tale based on the premise that literally, every person in the world suddenly goes blind. In other ways this film was not what I expected: it is violent, gory, distasteful, and extremely grim. The film works hard to make its premise as realistic as possible and while it succeeds extremely well at that (both with script, sets, and acting) — at times it felt like a reality TV show, that dozens of blind people were quarantined and filmed to see how they would react — that realism is so unpleasant the film at times is almost not watchable. Some of the things that happen are outrageous — and even though they are totally realistic — they are not things we want to see. Basically picture a terrified government simply putting all the newly blind people into quarantine at gunpoint. There they have to fend entirely for themselves. Food is provided, but soon there are shortages, and the blind people fight over who gets the food. The place and the people soon become filthy — they cannot see the filth to clean it up — and we get to watch them stumble through garbage and feces. Yes, great fun. This is an intense film, not at all for the squeamish, and it definitely makes you think. But it is too long, too dark, and has such a one-note concept that can’t explore much depth. You feel exhausted and dirty when you emerge. Perhaps that was the intent; if so, that was a mistake. The film has some fantastic moments, awesome performances, and an incredible script. It’s a very good movie in terms of being well-made. But it is not pleasant. It reminded me a lot of films like 28 Days.