just after "back soon", i saw the much more intense before the fall (imdb). in "before the fall" the governments of the world announce that a meteor will hit the earth in three days, ending all life on the planet. most of the world freaks out, and somewhere in spain all the guards of a prison abandon their post. the prisoners escape, including a serial killer with a beef with the family who stopped his killing spree 20 years before. the film is from the point of view of alejandro, the younger brother of the guy who foiled that serial killer, who lives in a small city in andalusia. alejandro ends up holed up in his brother' house, trying to defend his four nieces and nephews from a killer who has a penchant for slaughtering children.
i'm not spoiling the ending when i mention that everyone dies. the "end of the world" genre can be a way for a filmmaker to explore the futility of human existence, or it can be used just to show us how people act when the rules of human society break down. "before the fall" does more of the latter. it's quite effective at getting you to root for the good guys to avoid being killed by the bad guys, even though they're all about to die anyway. i guess i just wanted them to have a good final twenty minutes.
i should also add that it was beautifully filmed. some of the scenes were really striking. it doesn't surprise me that the film festival used an image from this movie for the cover of the festival guide. i think this is the first time i've actually seen the film that has the cover image.
