ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

jlthornb51 Writer/Director Justin McConnel has brought one of the most powerful post-apocalyptic films ever made to the screen with a stunning creativity and near poetry. This is a motion picture that takes cinema by the throat and shakes it senseless with its intensity. Haunting imagery and stunning cinematography enhance the sense of unease that permeates each scene. Beautifully filmed and magnificently scored, The Collapsed tells the moving and haunting story of a family fighting for survival after an apocalyptic event sends them on a journey in search of safety. John Fantasia is superb as the father responsible for his beloved wife and children and it is the performance of a lifetime, sure to catapult him to stardom. Ann Moule as his wife is also outstanding and gives her character depth and humanity. As the film progresses, the tension becomes almost unendurable, the intense, disturbing environment overwhelming. There is a surreal quality to the Canadian locations and this serves to make an unreal situation even more other worldly. The brilliant screenplay builds the horror until the ultimate in shattering motion picture climaxes. What this small film company has achieved on a minimal budget is astonishing and this films originality and creativity renews one's faith in independent cinema.

mecheart 'The Collapsed' is movie where nothing of very interesting substance occurs for the first seventy or so minutes out of an eighty-two minute run time. That is truly a shame because I enjoyed John Fantasia's performance as a father and husband who seemed to be more than he appeared. I also (mistakenly) thought that the slow burn - indeed never ending burn - was some kind of intelligent setup design for a powerful payoff at the end. Essentially, a family of four must survive the collapse of society - that is the gist of the plot. In order to do that, Fantasia's character leads his wife, daughter and son out of their native city on a journey to reach his second son's home in a place the movie makes you suspect is a remote rural location. The four main actors get somewhere, experience hardships, there are deaths and tragedies, but the plot/director treats each loss or speed bump as such a minor affair that the viewer can only nod at a character's demise and assume something more interesting is waiting to be seen in a later act. For a relatively short film, 'The Collapsed' is very slow paced making it seem like a two hour time investment. Again, very little happens and as a consequence, very little tension is built and what suspense does arise is quickly expended by highly annoying music and scenes that end in nonsensical dead ends. The viewer of this film must be patient - willing to watch an actor run around with a bolt action rifle, pointing it at nothing, cleaning it and charging it again and again - for over an hour. Simply nothing happens that hints or eludes to what the film is really about until the last few minutes. By that point I was both bored, mentally numb, and my leg had fallen asleep. Truly I did want to positively review this one, I was rooting for it to become something interesting throughout my viewing of the film. If nothing else, perhaps John Fantasia's performance will catch the eye of someone at a large studio and he'll get a shot in front of a wider audience. I cannot recommend 'The Collapsed' to anyone really - unless you're a fan of Mr. Fantasia - and even then it'd be a hard sell. The plot ends up being a common enough one and in an attempt to make it work, the film lies to you with scenes that did not really happen. I've never liked nor approved of such devices in books and movies, they feel too much like a sucker punch in the reader or viewer's gut. Steer clear of this one, unless you're incredibly bored or patient or you're scouting for undiscovered talent.

Movie Man Take the other negative reviews to heart. I wish I had read them before getting this through Netflix. I watched the first 10 minutes or so and the bad acting was already apparent. Started flipping forward chapter by chapter and then did 4x to 8x speed on the DVD player until my suspicions were confirmed. Even with all that it was a waste of time. Not a quality flick at all like "The Happening". It was a waste of their time and money to make it. Unbelievable...I have to write 4 more lines of text to make this acceptable by the website. Can we possibly waste any MORE time with this movie? OK,one more line; maybe that will do it. Bye end of world movie.

alex (doorsscorpywag) It had a few decent ideas and might have been better with a budget. The acting was pretty ordinary and considering that the two guys had just come across the rest of their family wiped out they did not seem THAT upset. They must have missed the emotion class. Basically something happens and a family are trying to escape the city before it collapses into chaos. They find a car and set off for the country. They make a big mistake and stop at a petrol station for fuel and supplies. Some scary dudes pull up armed to the teeth and they head for the woods to escape.Then things get a bit weird as we move into The Happening territory. We finally discover what is going on from some other characters who have fortified some farm buildings and the revelation that all is not as it seems.Not a bad ending really and some smart ideas it has to be said. But the direction is lacklustre and the script a bit plodding as we have endless shots of trees and our heroes walking. The usual fake reviews bull it up into something it isn't and overall it is poor but has it's moments and thankfully it contains no zombies which is a nice change. It probably could be made into something interesting with a bit of money behind it. Certainly not good but then not the usual rubbish either