''I Think We're Alone Now'' is a 2018 American
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...
romance drama
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
film directed by
Reed Morano
Reed Morano (born April 15, 1977) is an American film director and cinematographer. Morano was the first woman in history to win both the Emmy and Directors Guild Award for directing a drama series in the same year for the pilot episode of The Han ...
, who also acted as cinematographer, and written by
Mike Makowsky
Mike Makowsky (born May 9, 1991) is an American screenwriter and producer. He wrote the true crime dramedy film '' Bad Education'', which premiered on HBO in 2020. He has also written the films ''Take Me'' and ''I Think We're Alone Now''.
...
. It stars
Peter Dinklage
Peter Hayden Dinklage (; born June 11, 1969) is an American film, television and stage actor. He received international recognition for portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which he wo ...
and
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, inc ...
as two survivors who learn to live together after a worldwide
pandemic
A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
wipes out Earth's population.
The film had its world premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
on January 21, 2018. It was released on September 14, 2018, by
Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures is a film distributor and a subsidiary of Entertainment One, itself part of Hasbro. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading i ...
.
Plot
Del lives alone in a small town after an unspecified but sudden (people died where they sat) apocalyptic event has killed off the human population "on a Tuesday afternoon". Believing he is the last man on Earth, Del has set about leading a peaceful existence in his hometown, living in the library where he used to work and spending the day clearing out people's homes and burying the dead.
One night, he is awakened by fireworks. The following day, he discovers a young woman named Grace, unconscious in her car, having gotten into a drunken car accident. Initially, Del is unwelcoming toward the woman, who follows him around and urges him to let her stay. When the woman decides to leave, Del stops her and allows for a theoretical trial period in case they need each other.
Grace is a noisy, erratic presence, but Del reluctantly becomes used to her, feeding her and teaching her his methods for clearing the homes of the dead. When Grace finds a dog, she showers it with love and attention, but after the dog bites Del, he lets it loose and it runs away. When he admits this to Grace, she is furious and reminds him that while he was bitter and alone in his previous life, she was loved and happy. A repentant Del shows her his greenhouse and asks her to continue clearing houses with him.
On one of her trips to search for houses, Grace comes across a house that hasn't been cleared yet and which Del doesn't want to clear. She realizes that it belonged to Del's family. Grace convinces Del to clean the house and bury the body of his mother. Afterwards, Grace informs Del that she has something to tell him but instead avoids addressing the topic directly and kisses him.
The following morning, Del wakes up in the house Grace has been using and is surprised to hear voices downstairs. He meets two new survivors, Patrick and Violet, who introduce themselves as Grace's parents. It is revealed that there were thousands of survivors of the apocalypse, who have formed a community. Because Del has never left his town, he has not been made aware.
Del is upset and leaves but Grace chases him and begs him to keep her with him, saying that the couple are not her real parents and that she was paired with them when she reached the survivor's commune in California. Del ignores her and leaves. Patrick visits Del at the library where he urges Del to come with him, hinting at different experiments occurring in California that focus on the mind.
Soon thereafter, Grace leaves with the couple and Del returns to his solitary lifestyle though he is now wracked with loneliness. No longer capable of living alone, Del abandons his small town and drives to the address Patrick left him, hoping to find Grace. Del sneaks into Grace's home to see her, and while there, sees she has undergone more behavior modification surgery to erase the lingering trauma caused by the loss of her family. While Del and Grace are trying to escape, Patrick attempts to stop them. He explains that the only way for the human race to move forward is to forget the past and what they all lost. Grace panics and shoots him. Violet is not upset as she still remembers her previous life and the daughter she lost, despite the behavior modification she has been subjected to. Del and Grace find the city populated with disconcertingly happy survivors, all blissfully and willfully ignorant of their past trauma. Del and Grace leave the city with no stated or implied goal or destination.
Cast
*
Peter Dinklage
Peter Hayden Dinklage (; born June 11, 1969) is an American film, television and stage actor. He received international recognition for portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which he wo ...
as Del
*
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, inc ...
as Grace
*
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
as Patrick
*
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon I ...
as Violet
Production
In October 2016,
Peter Dinklage
Peter Hayden Dinklage (; born June 11, 1969) is an American film, television and stage actor. He received international recognition for portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which he wo ...
and
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, inc ...
were attached to star as Del and Grace, respectively.
Principal photography was done in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
state, including the towns of
Hastings-on-Hudson
Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manha ...
and
Haverstraw
Haverstraw is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the we ...
.
Soundtrack
Working Man
Written by
Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...
&
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded the band that wo ...
Performed by
Rush
Rush(es) may refer to:
Places
United States
* Rush, Colorado
* Rush, Kentucky
* Rush, New York
* Rush City, Minnesota
* Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois
* Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream
* Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...
Finding My Way
Written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Performed by Rush
LA Knights
Performed by Four Step Plan
Courtesy of Four Step Plan
Livin' Proof
Performed by
Group Home
A group home, congregate living facility, or care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English) is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children ...
Courtesy of Island Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Free The Mind
Performed by
Johann Johannsson
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
Courtesy of NTOV
Cuban Jam
Written by La Palabra
Performed by Orquesta
La Palabra
Published by Big Tiger Music (BMI)
Courtesy of Light In The Attic Records & Distribution, LLC
Release
The film had its world premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
on January 21, 2018, where it won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Excellence in Filmmaking.
A month later,
Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures is a film distributor and a subsidiary of Entertainment One, itself part of Hasbro. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading i ...
acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on September 14, 2018.
Critical response
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
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 ...
reported approval rating, based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''I Think We're Alone Now'' benefits from an absorbing aesthetic and solid work from its leads, although it's still somewhat less than the sum of its post-apocalyptic parts."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
, assigned a score of 51 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Peter Travers of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' gave the film 2 stars out of 5, saying, "the emotional investment we make in Del and Grace comes to nothing, as the plot ties up loose ends without a single surprise or a scintilla of genuine emotion." Todd McCarthy of ''
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 ...
'' wrote: "It's hard to figure what induced director Reed Morano, who did such a fine job directing the first three episodes of ''The Handmaid's Tale'' last season, to take on such a script, one so devoid of surprise, intriguing notions and compelling scenes." Vikram Murthi of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the film a "C" grade, saying, "Morano's film wants to examine the emotional consequences of immersing oneself in trauma, but Makowsky's script merely paws at the edges of the idea rather than diving into the knottiness of it."
References
External links
*
{{Reed Morano
2018 films
American independent films
Films shot in New York (state)
American post-apocalyptic films
2010s science fiction drama films
Films directed by Reed Morano
2018 independent films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films