Diane (Alexandra Slade) is one of the last survivors in an apocalyptic war and is rescued by ‘General’ Gore (Nick Young). However, Diane’s rescuer seems a little bit too caught up in the affects of the war and it has seriously altered his mind. So, Diane has to deal with her demented saviour while making their way through a bunker and hoping to find a better place to survive. Although in the dark and claustrophobic world of the post-apocalyptic war, Diane has no idea what to expect.
Friend of The World is a sometimes surreal, wryly comic horror written and directed by Brian Patrick Butler. At a running time of around fifty minutes, Butler’s comparatively short film manages to pack in a lot and is able to set up a good premise with interesting and engaging characters and present his own filmic vision along the way.
Shot in black and white, Friend of The World may start off rather slow for some, but as soon as Gore appears then the audience clearly understands the kind of man that he is and the danger Diane faces. Although Nick Young does give a charismatic and unhinged performance, the audience may feel strangely warm to him because despite his demeanour. After all it just feels like he’s making the best of a bad situation.
The best way to describe the style of Friend of The World is that it’s a Cronenbergian inflected story partly inspired by John Carpenter with a dry sense of humour about filmmaking. It’s clear that Butler knows what he is making and knows the limitations of the budget and maybe a little of his own directorial experience and makes fun of it all.
Diane is herself a filmmaker so Butler implants all the frustrations and cliches about sophomore filmmakers and slowly draws them out so that the audience can smile a little at the director mocking himself.
However, Diane is never made to feel like the butt of the joke, rather somebody who is the product of her own surroundings due to her experiences and what she has learnt.
Friend of The World is a unique film which is full of subtext and is more than just the usual horror comedy. Both Slade and Young give great performances and it may be the beginnings of a filmmaker clear idea of what he wants going forward.
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