SummaryWhen a mysterious cyber-attack cripples civilization, a group of old college friends retreat to a remote country home, where they must cope with an uncertain future while navigating the minefield of their shared past.
SummaryWhen a mysterious cyber-attack cripples civilization, a group of old college friends retreat to a remote country home, where they must cope with an uncertain future while navigating the minefield of their shared past.
The strength of Goodbye World is that it understands the foibles of these characters and lets them be as flawed as they are while they are also trying to survive not just the apocalypse but each other.
Film buffs will see Goodbye World as a sort of “Trigger Effect” meets “Return of the Secaucus Seven” — growing up, learning to look at the world through more jaded adult eyes as the world ends.
Great movie, good actors nice story, didn't like the ending but it' definitely a movie worth watching :) by the way nice soundtracks. The critics were to harsh with the movie...
There are some movies would have been better in a longer format, something very much prevalent in British television: the one-off three episode series. As the "Welcome Home" song ended and the credits finally stopped rolling, I felt that I wanted to see more of this story. I would describe the atmosphere as a more pleasant The Walking Dead, when they were still on Herschel's farm. I generally like character studies, especially if it is done well, like Sundance Channel's Rectify.
There was something really compelling about the very flawed characters, and the understated acting helped a lot. I really like Ben McKenzie in this adult and no-cheese acting work. Actually it goes for Adrian Grenier as well, as I have not been a fan of his; I don't hate him in this movie. I liked all the characters, really.
From the outset, there is inevitable comparison to It's A Disaster, a comedy from 2012. Although they are pretty much going for very different genres, there have the similar premise of friends stuck in a house while the world ends outside. I like both movies and it doesn't feel like watching the same thing twice, but if I had to choose, I would choose Goodbye World, only because it is better written for the genre it is made for. It's A Disaster was funny, but it was not so funny.
What goes against this movie is that the resolution and story overall is approached from a rational intellectual perspective, which is not realistic. "We are the enemy," as Laura said. People are not naturally good, which everyone in this movie is, except for the cartoon villain Damon. The optimistic outlook of this movie is what might have drawn me to it, but it is also its biggest flaw.
The tetchy band of thirtysomethings' interpersonal problems are infinitely less compelling than the mysterious and original global disaster the filmmakers have devised.
Apocalyptic visions are no longer enough to shock us. By this point, if you want to imagine the end of the world, you really need to say something new about it.
I am probably indulging in a rather obnoxious form of criticism-as-parlor-game-psychotherapy by positing that each of the three main white male characters in director Denis Henry Hennelly's Goodbye World is meant to represent a facet of the director himself. Unfortunately, such activity is about all the movie is any good for.
Only Gaby Hoffmann makes a lasting impression, as the thick-skinned pariah of the bunch. Somehow she’s able to give the ring of truth to even the hoariest of Hennelly and cowriter Sarah Adina Smith’s conceits (notably a rally-the-troops speech cribbed from founding father George Washington). The rest makes you long for Armageddon.
Goodbye World crutches heavily on it's actors making the best of a bland apocalypse script that avoids any serious confrontation with the real world, leaving them to carry-on living their meaningless self-righteous lives in an isolated utopia.
I saw the first 45 minutes and and shut this off – reading the ending
in the plot section of Wikipedia. It's a shame these folks weren't
killed off in this supposed apocalypse. I think the part that utterly
had me pissed, were the characters' apathetic POVs to what was going on
outside their space. The ultimate in narcissism where the world is
coming to an end and all they can do is kvetch about their pitiful
relationships. Reminds me of those Goth kids in South Park....
Some people found the story well-written; I think they they didn't
understand the story and tried to cover it up by saying it was
well-written. I've even taken five minutes and my FIRST review on Metacritic
to let people know to not waste their time. BTW, "living off the grid"
with a WiFi code of "Spaced360"?? Sounds like grid living to me.