The Domestics

2018 "In the end, defend."
5.7| 1h35m| R| en
Details

A young husband and wife must fight to return home in a post-apocalyptic mid-western landscape ravaged by gangs.

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Reviews

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!
Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
a_chinn The US has been devastated by war and disease, killing off most of the population and leaving survivors without a government or civil order. What's left is different gang controlled territories by The Sheets, The Cherries, The Plow Boys, The Gamblers, and The Domestics. The Sheets wear sheets. The Cherries are an all-girl gang. The Plow Boys drive a big plow. The Gamblers are the most interesting, continually playing games of chance, spinning prize wheels or doing rock-paper-scissors to decide whether to kill someone or not. That group had a bit more to their mythology and are the most interesting, having an actual culture rather than just an interesting outfit or namesake prop. The Domestics are the gang who are the most normal and identifiable (you know, domestic) and that gang is where our two heroes herald from. The distinct look of each gang, outside of the normal Domestics, made this film seem like a post-apocalyptic version of Walter Hill's "The Warriors" with our hero gang, The Domestics, having the bop their way through enemy gang territory to get to safety. There's even a DJ narrating between the film's events, just as Hill's DJ did in his 1979 film. The story wastes no time getting down to business with a husband (Tyler Hoechlin) and wife (Kate Bosworth) setting out across the county to find out why Bosworth's parents stopped answering on their CB radio. As will Walter Hill's film, writer/director Mike P. Nelson's story unfolds in a series of episodic events, where the couple encounters various gangs, although unlike "The Warriors," this film comes to a head with a major confrontation between all of the warring gangs. That climactic action scene is pretty good, but my favorite episode comes early in the story when the couple is rescued by a kind man, Lance Reddick, and his son who takes the pair back to his warm welcoming home to meet his family and enjoy a hot meal, which (SPOILER ALERT!) ends up being PEOPLE! It's a wonderfully creepy episode with this seemingly normal and caring family turning out to be cannibals. What makes the episode work so well is that it doesn't build to a familiar Texas Chainsaw Massacre crescendo with Bosworth and Hoechlin becoming the family's next meal, but they instead find themselves calmly being invited to join the family. I wish more of "The Domestics" was made up of more unique and unexpected of episodes such as this, instead of the more familiar encounter/fight/flee formula that makes up a majority of the couple's encounters (though their encounter with The Gamblers in a ramped up version of Russian Rouletter that's a bit like "The Deer Hunter" meets "SAW" is pretty wild). Overall, "The Domestics" has the grim look of "The Road" but is more similar to the comic book post-apocalyptic action of something along the lines of "The Purge" or "Z-Nation", which isn't a bad thing, but I think this movie had the potential for greatness with it's solid cast, excellent production design, and some cool ideas sprinkled throughout.
The Couchpotatoes I don't know anything about the director Mike P. Nelson except that he was clearly inspired by movies that I loved when I was young. There is no doubt in my mind that he was inspired by The Warriors (1979) from Walter Hill and by Mad Max (1979) from George Miller. By The Warriors for the narrating radio voice that warns about the different gangs operating in different sectors, and by Mad Max for the apocalyptic view of the world and the customized vehicles. I couldn't stop thinking about that while watching the movie and apparently I'm not the only one since I read another review thinking the same. I loved The Warriors, and I still do after all those years, so to me it was easy to like The Domestics, because in a way it brought back those memories. But The Domestics was just inspired by it, for the rest it's a totally different movie and story. I can get that people don't like it. Those people would probably not like The Warriors and Mad Max either. But if you did like those I'm sure you will like this one as well. The acting was certainly not bad for a so-called B-movie. I'm aware that the story doesn't make much logic sometimes but I was not expecting that either with this kind of post-apocalytic story. I's just a bit of easy entertainment, the kind I like everynow and then.
rabyjohal Girl who wouldnt kill a fly and didnt know how to shoot .next morning while she was injured gone Ak47 . Was on killing like professional .stupid
grayjulie-70582 I didn't expect much from this movie- it was an apocalyptic theme so I thought I'd give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised! I give it a solid 7/10. I was entertained beginning to end. Enough Gore to satisfy your lust, and enough character development and story to keep you interested. A-List actors heading the cast, mixed with B-list actors to give it a campy feel. It's worth a watch. Reminded me of Turbo Kid. If you liked Turbo Kid or Hobo with a Shotgun- you'll enjoy this cult nugget.