I just had occasion to see this movie for the first time. I don't see myself as being a person who goes out of their way to pick apart movies, but I'm on board with clocksnmirrors. Most of the things they pointed out were not adequately explained. The fact is, our characters WERE often underground in the subway when using the GPS. I go into a covered parking structure and my GPS tells me "satellite signal lost" and I am nowhere near to having gone underground. It is a new, $500 Garmin. They are just not made to be used where the sky is completely obscured.
Next, a panic disorder? One of the first victims said that his father did not believe him that he had been unable to leave his home for the past 6 months. Not that he had been afraid he couldn't GET BACK INSIDE for the past six months. They never really adequately explain the etiology of this panic disorder (if they did, I missed it), also, I worked in a hospital and I've yet to see any true panic disorders where people manifest bleeding from the eyes and ears as a symptom of their stress. I mean, WTF? it also makes NO SENSE AT ALL THAT THEIR KID IS NOT AFRAID to go out, but they are? Agoraphobia is a true disorder, with people afraid to leave their homes. However, the worst that might happen to them is for them to have an "actual panic attack", where they hyperventilate and pass out, or have a heart attack, which would not involve bleeding from the eyes and ears. Just plain dumb. Sorry, a volcanic event is not going to cause any of this kind of thing in the population. Or if you believe any of this drivel, you are not very smart. If you want to explain how the connection of volcanic ash (or even an event of radiation has ever proven to cause panic disorders, please advise. Or even worse, to go on and say that such an event could cause genetic or viral changes in a specific group of people, but NOT THEIR OFFSPRING, be my guest. Last I checked, there is no such data existing ANYWHERE. This is like crazytown. This appears to be a very odd mix of a mental health disorder manifested with unusual physical symptoms. There appears to be no explanation for how it might have occurred, or why it would only affect one generation (since there is no decent explanation on why it happened to the first group).
And yes, it does matter that you can't throw a chair cleanly through a plate glass window. This is supposed to be a movie "roughly" based in reality. If not, why not have them live on another planet, or be another species? These are humans, living in the vaguely current time, suffering what was supposed to be a very irregular event. Therefore the things that happen around them should reflect what can only happen in real time and space. So yes, it does matter that you can't just throw a chair through the window. You would throw it and it would bounce off back at you, or at the very worst, it would put a very small crack in the window. We get it, he was distraught and wanted to threaten to kill himself RIGHT NOW. However, he should have just opened a door to the roof, or something that was ACTUALLY PLAUSIBLE. This stuff drives me nuts. The movie had some nice relational moments between Marc and Enrique It was really very well written to see how they started as strangers and became de facto family. How Enrique found real purpose for his life, to help Marc realize his. Too bad some of the details were so nutty.
To each their own...opinion
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essex9999
9 years ago
Or even worse, to go on and say that such an event could cause genetic or viral changes in a specific group of people, but NOT THEIR OFFSPRING, be my guest.
That's not hard to explain. Something happened that caused everyone alive at a certain moment to develop this syndrome permanently. Then the something passed. People born later were never exposed to it and so never developed the syndrome. The fact that a fetus in utero was not affected suggests that the something was airborne, but it's not definitely explained.
Otherwise, I agree with the many comments about implausibility, but, really, sci fi is often implausible. The movie would have been stronger with a bit more explanation (and fewer obvious goofs like the GPS and the magically smashing window), but it was still quite entertaining. If you like horror and science fiction, at a certain point you just have to accept that some things will not be logical or well explained. A viewer who insists on everything making sense will probably not enjoy these genres very much.
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recyclar13
7 years ago
to macgirl66: um, it's science fiction, NOT a documentary based on real science, diseases, disorders or syndromes. hence the "fiction" aspect.
it was never definitively stated the volcanic eruptions were the actual cause.
and, as mentioned in another thread, it's metaphorical for how disconnected from humanity so many of us have become due to cultural & technical trash.
and I agree with the latter part of essex9999's post.
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