“Gold” (2022)
Dystopian Mad Max survival thriller without the thrills.
Dystopian Mad Max survival thriller without the thrills.
Written, directed and starring Anthony Hayes (who also wrote and directed New Skin in 2002 and Ten Empty in 2008), Hayes is also credited with over 90 acting roles to his name including here as “Man Two” opposite Zac Efron as “Man One” in a film containing only one further central role (or could it be two?) and a film that simmers and intrigues if not necessarily satisfying despite the pleasing ending following the obvious reveal. Against a Mad Max type futuristic and horribly dystopian backdrop we find two men and two weary and wary strangers who each need something from the other. Man One (Efron) needs a lift to a faraway outpost known only as “The Compound” and Man Two (Hayes) has the vehicle, and a high price, for doing so. Following his arrival at a central area from a ramshackle train and seemingly stranded in a broken, dirty brown and dusty town lost in barely functioning small portable TV’s from the 1980’s, Man One is in:
“Some place. Some time. Not far from now”.
But this “some place” is very, very far away from now and equally far from any other living, breathing member of civilisation.
As the image above and indeed the title of the film suggests, it’s no great spoiler to suggest our two distant strangers form a bond over a fortuitous find in the middle of an arid desert and the middle of absolutely nowhere. Their find isn’t so much a nugget of gold but a ginormous rock of it and the dilemma soon becomes a bitter conversation as to who stays with their life changing bounty, and who goes to seek help and the securing of an excavator to lift and extract this huge piece of good fortune. Man One (Efron) essentially plays the trump card of being the first man to find it should be the man who stays behind to guard the bounty, and that’s him, much to the dismay of Man Two (Hayes). Leaving behind the barest of supplies, Man Two anticipates the return journey to and from the nearest town to be five days, leaving his would be partner with the meagre supplies and a “SatPhone”. Against a backdrop of “Restricted Zones” and “folks turning on each other” their “once in a lifetime opportunity” couldn’t have come at a more opportune time but can one man survive the arid, dry baking heat of the day, the coldness of night as well as the vital collection of firewood to ensure the nightly flames ward off hungry predators?
I didn’t particularly care for the film but, and it’s a reasonably sized one, there are a number of notable stand out scenes surrounding two very good central performances from Zac Efron and Anthony Hayes. The breaking of tension between the two men and Man Two’s exclamation of “You just found a fucking pile of gold, man!” leads to a brilliantly shot and executed fireside evening scene between the two and the finding of the aeroplane wreckage leads to the building of a Tepee like structure that keeps the ravages of the weather at bay as well as being brilliantly shot by director Hayes against an early morning sunset. The evenings are full of the howls of presumably prairie dogs, cayotes or wolves. The days are full of sand, flies, scorpions and of Man One trying desperately to survive on his meagre rations as he fights his own rapidly deteriorating mind and body.
The reveal annoyed me! The ending pleased me. The film certainly has merits (the brilliant mournful score from Antony Partos being a huge one), but there wasn’t enough to sustain a genuine interest in the outcome come the third Act.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 100 blog articles (with 300+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
“The Seventh Day” (2021)
Training Day — For Priests!medium.com
“The Tender Bar” (2021)
George Clooney the Director strikes again.medium.com
“Aftersun” (2022)
The unreliability of the persistence of memory.medium.com