October 7, 2018
Written by: Mike P. Nelson
Starring: Kate Bosworth, Tyler Hoechlin, Sonoya Mizuno
Budget: $10,600,000
Tagline: This 4th of July, Pledge Your Allegiance
Trivia: Kate Bosworth played as Lois Lane in 'Superman Returns', while Tyler Hoechlin plays as Superman in 'Supergirl' TV series.
I was really impressed with The Domestics. It is the story of a couple trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic America. It's very much a cross between Mad Max, The Warriors, and Straw Dogs (three incredible movies). In the future, what's left of America has been carved up into gang territories who fight each other for power. In the midst of this, a couple tries to make there way the 140 miles to a families how without being killed. The movie is a survival film that benefits from its heavy use of action and horror. The action elements in the movie are so pervasive in fact, that at times it felt like a video game, while the violence and gore are so intense that it moves this film out of the action genre and squarely into the horror camp. Coupled with a 1950s soundtrack and a great acting, this movie is a grim and exciting look at post-apocalyptic Americana.
In the first minutes of the movie there is a radio DJ that, along with various news footage and newspaper clips, explains the apocalyptic background to the movie. More or less, the government began to fear its citizens and dusted the country with a poison gas that killed most of the population. What remains are colorful and thematic gangs that vie with each other for control over areas, weapons, and women. A few of such gangs are the Plow Boys (they drive plows), the Sheets (they wear sheets with goggles), the Nailers (nail fetishists or something), the Cherries (an all girl gang), and The Gamblers (a gang that loves gambling and uses gambling's luck and fate to determine the consequences of the people they run into... they also wear animal head over their own for some reason). Then there's The Domestics, just normal people trying to live their normal lives and survive. Mark (Tyler Hoechlin) and Nina (Kate Bosworth) fall into this camp. Nina, the wife, wants nothing more than to see her parents again which are 140 (thereabouts) miles away. Despite the dangers, the two journey off on their way coming into contact with various gangs and barely escaping with their lives. They eventually get to their parent's community where they must endure neo final showdown between two rival gangs.
Interspersed within the chaos of the characters just trying to survive is a surprising strong secondary story between the two characters themselves. Throughout the first half of the movie Nina seemed miserable (which is understandable) and either hostile or dismissive of her husband. Later in the film we learn the two were in the midst of a divorce when the world began to collapse. As the movie progresses and they escape increasingly dire situations, Nina begins to once again see the man she loved. It is really interesting seeing Nina's transformation within this context. She goe from a demur and depressed woman to a complete badass. Whereas Mark saves Nina in the beginning, by the end of the film, it is Nina calling the shots and saving Mark and everyone else. She will be the one in the final showdown. And she will save Mark not once, but twice.
There are a few incredibly intense scenes in this movie. One in particular takes place early on when Nailers break into a house where Mark and Nina are staying looking to take Nina with them to use as a sex slave (this is the assumption at least). Mark is able to take out the first Nailer with a screwdriver through the back of his head and another one by stabbing the screwdriver through the guy's hand and eye as he tried to shield himself. In the same house (I think) they find the murdered bodies of another Domestic couple in bed. This violence is a stark reminder of Mark and Nina's possible fates. Although Mark tells Nina that he would never let this happen to them, neither Mark, Nina, or the viewer believes him. There's another great scene when the couple is captured by Gamblers and has their hands screwed into posts with guns and then they are forced to play Russian Roulette with each other as dozens of other Gamblers bet on the outcome. Nina is forced to shoot Mark, luckily it only hits him in the shoulder, before she is able to get her other hand free, steal a gun, shoot the guy running the show, and break out all while her right hand is still screwed into a chunk of wood. This moment sets up the final showdown between her and the Gambler.
The final scene includes a moment where Nina walks into a house to seek revenge against someone who has done them wrong. As she walks down the hall she notices little bloody footprints leading into the living room. There, there is the man she was looking for but he has already been very brutally killed. Confused Nina walks outside and there we see this cute little seven year old girl with bloody feet. This was the very shy girl we met earlier in the film, which tells both Nina and the viewer, just how bad things have gotten in this world. The domestic dream of a normal life is no more than a fantasy in this world.
If you're looking for a well paced and emotional film, this is not your movie. However, if you're looking for nonstop action and silly but great bad guy gangs, then look no further. The Domestics is fun, fast, and violent. It has an oddly western feel to it and the ironic use of 1950s teeny bopper romance music works really well juxtaposed next to the violence and mayhem.
...what's your thoughts?
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