TITLE: DIE ALONE
IN THEATERS: October 18, 2024
ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND: October 18, 2024
DIRECTOR: Lowell Dean
WRITER: Lowell Dean
CAST: Carrie-Anne Moss, Douglas Smith, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Frank Grillo
SYNOPSIS: Lost in a world reclaimed by nature and overrun by mysterious creatures, a young man with amnesia teams up with an eccentric survivalist to find his missing girlfriend.
RATING: TV-MA
GENRE: Thriller, Horror
RUN TIME: 91 minutes
DISTRIBUTOR: Quiver Distribution
Director/Writer of DIE ALONE Lowell Dean is known Worldwide for his Wolfcop horror franchise films. This time around he turns in his badge for mysterious avenues.
Ethan (Douglas Smith) & his girlfriend Emma (Kimberly-Sue Murray) are in a car when it crashes, He awakes alone, in the car with a case of amnesia. The world is a different place and he bands together with Mae (Carrie-Anne Moss), a rough around the edges survivalist. Together they must maneuver through the terrain that is infested with the infected and find Ethan’s girlfriend.
It’s nice to see Dean explore new avenues of the horror genre with Die Alone. Here he mixes love story and mystery during an outbreak subplot. The characters are easy to connect with and overall very likable. The beautiful Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada locations add to the isolation and desperation these survivors must endure to stay alive.
The screentime between Ethan (Smith) and Mae (Moss) feels so authentic and natural. This is a good thing because the story hinges on these two characters. Memories of The Matrix‘s Trinity are washed away by the gritty hard-shelled character Mae.
Douglas Smith has impressive acting chops and puts them on display in Die Alone. His confused and chaotic character Ethan pushes the narrative of the story forward. It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for him as he slowly spirals into losing his memories. One memory he keeps is his love for Emma, who he relentlessly searches for, often putting his life and others in danger.
It’s interesting how Dean works the creatures into the storyline without taking anything away from the main plot. This is a smart decision as it would muddle the love story possibly making it just another horror film.
Frank Grillo has a small role as Kai, the religious survivor and protector of his family. Here’s an instance where less is more. Kai and his family are used sparsely, enough to push the story forward. Were they needed? probably not, but if they had stuck around too long it wouldn’t add anything more to the story.
One side note, Lowell Dean continues to use practical effects in his creature designs. This is very impressive, especially within this film. The creature effects are magnificent and worth the price of a ticket (or rental as the case may be).
DIE ALONE doesn’t disappoint, it impresses and elevates to new Apocalyptic heights. The small cast and set pieces shine with direction from Lowell Dean. The prowess of both Douglas Smith and Carrie-Anne Moss engulfs the audience in a world of lost love, lost memories and dangerous creatures. This film is a high point of 2024 and shows great original filmmaking still exists.
DIE ALONE
IN THEATERS: October 18, 2024 ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND: October 18, 2024
