''Embers'' is a 2015 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

film directed by Claire Carré as her feature debut, and written and produced by Claire Carré and Charles Spano. It features

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series '' Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series ''The Event'', ...

, Iva Gocheva, Greta Fernández,

Tucker Smallwood Tucker Smallwood (born February 22, 1944) is an American actor, author, and vocalist. Early life From 1967 to 1970, Smallwood served in the United States Army Airborne Infantry. Commanding a Mobile Advisory Team during the Vietnam War, he was n ...

, Karl Glusman, and Silvan Friedman. The film world premiered at

Oldenburg International Film Festival The Oldenburg International Film Festival has covered the international movie scene in all aspects since 1994. It is situated in Oldenburg, Germany. Its open-minded approach leads to a mixture of movie premieres and original independent production ...

and US co-premiered at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

and

New Orleans Film Festival The New Orleans Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the nonprofit organization New Orleans Film Society, a film society founded in 1989. The festival has been held since the society's inception. The festival takes place in mid-Oc ...

where it won Best Feature. ''Embers'' was selected as Closing Night Film at

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which als ...

. Slamdance Presents acquired theatrical rights and

The Orchard The Orchard may refer to: * The Orchard (company), American music and entertainment company * The Orchard (band), Canadian country music duo * ''The Orchard'' (Lizz Wright album), 2008 * ''The Orchard'' (Ra Ra Riot album), 2010 * The Orchard (t ...

acquired global digital distribution rights to the film, releasing it in 2016.

Plot

''Embers'' tells the story of those who, a decade after a global epidemic, remain and suffer from lasting effects of the virus - retrograde and anterograde

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

. The survivors navigate a decaying landscape, unable to recall the past or create new memories. Five interwoven stories each explore a different facet of life without memory in a future that has no past.

Cast

as Guy * Iva Gocheva as Girl * Greta Fernández as Miranda *

as Teacher *

Karl Glusman Karl Glusman (born January 3, 1988) is an American actor. He had a lead role in Gaspar Noé’s controversial pornographical drama ''Love'' (2015) and appeared in ''The Neon Demon'' (2016) and ''Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). Early life Glusman wa ...

as Chaos * Roberto Cots as Father *

Dominique Swain Dominique Swain (born August 12, 1980) is an American actress and producer. She came to prominence playing the title character in Adrian Lyne's 1997 film adaptation of ''Lolita'', alongside her supporting role as Jamie Archer in John Woo's ''Fac ...

as Woman in the Long Dress * Matthew Goulish as Guardian * Silvan Ftiedman as Boy * Sundance as Horse

Reception

Critical response

''Embers'' received wide critical acclaim including positive reviews in ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

,'' and ''

L.A. Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

''. Eric Kohn of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' dubbed ''Embers,'' "the best science fiction discovery of the year," and Don Simpson writing for Smells Like Screen Spirit called ''Embers'', "one of the most memorable independent science fiction films in the last decade.” ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

's'' Anton Bitel lauded the direction, saying, "Carré weaves from her ensemble amnesi-apocalypse a reflection of the human condition as philosophically compelling as it is emotionally intelligent." The Italian film journal Cine Lapsus described the film as, " Beckett absurdly suspended halfway between '' Memento'' and ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

''.” ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' criticized ''Embers'', saying it "could be described as a mass-scale '' Memento'', but that thumbnail sketch misses both the pic's impressive conceptual breadth and its numbing dramatic stasis."

Accolades

Director Claire Carré received nominations for the

Someone to Watch Award The Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl's, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. History The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. The award was first given at the 1994 a ...

at the 2017

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

and the Spotlight On Women Directors Award at the

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

. ''Embers'' was nominated for Best Production Design for Chelsea Oliver at the inaugural American Independent Film Awards. ''Embers'' received numerous festival accolades including Best Feature at

, SciFi London, Feratum Film Festival, and Oxford Film Festival, where Carré also was given the

Alice Guy-Blaché Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché (née Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer filmmaker. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From 1896 to 1906, s ...

Award. At

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival beg ...

, ''Embers'' won both Best Feature and Best Director, and the film received awards for Best Feature and Best Editing at Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival. ''Embers'' also received Best New Director at

Brooklyn Film Festival The Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), prior to 2011 called the Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) is an independent film festival held every June in Brooklyn, New York. Started by Marco Ursino, Susan Mackell, Abe Schrager, and Mario Pegoraro ...

, and both the Juice Award and Special Jury Prize at

Sarasota Film Festival The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and is held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-lo ...

Trieste Science+Fiction Festival Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

in Italy awarded ''Embers'' the prestigious Asteroide.

References

External links

*
Embers
' Official Website * {{IMDb title, 3503460, Embers *
Embers
' at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

''Embers'' Trailer
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

2015 films 2015 science fiction films 2015 directorial debut films Films about viral outbreaks American science fiction films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language science fiction films