The Survivalist Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Survivalist Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson February 2, 2018

Note: this unrated version of THE SURVIVALIST contains scenes of frontal female nudity and male genitalia.

Irish director Stephen Fingleton's The Survivalist tells a grim but often scenically beautiful tale about an unnamed title character (Martin McCann) living in the backwoods of the northern Ireland county of Monaghan. The post-apocalyptic fable is set sometime in the near future as it follows the survivalist's daily rituals around a ram-shackled cabin. He's hardly had any contact with homo sapiens for at least seven years and been haunted by the mysterious death of his brother. In a prologue depicting an animated graph showing oil depletion and its inverse correlation with overpopulation, Fingleton establishes the plight of the survivalist and other humans subsisting to stay alive. As Fingleton explains in an interview with Film Ireland magazine, "I came up with the idea for The Survivalist based on a documentary about peak oil I saw, called Collapse [2009] about how resource limitations would lead to a collapse of industrialised society – a fantastic thesis. I started imagining what I would do to survive and I realised you could tell the story of what civilisation would be like from the perspective of someone who sees it coming, someone who is ready, someone who is prepared." The film's titular protagonist fits those qualities but he longs for a woman. (He masturbates while gazing down at a crumpled photo of a blonde, who was possibly either his wife at one time or his brother's spouse.) One day he has two unannounced guests: an older woman named Kathryn (Olwyn Fouéré) and her teenage daughter Milja (Mia Goth). Kathryn states that they're in need of food and offers jewels and seeds for the survivalist to plant. He's not interested in either but the mother counteroffers Milja as a bedroom companion to him and he accepts. The survivalist is more than a little paranoid and trusts no one. He holds Kathryn and Milja at gunpoint as they eat at his table and get settled in his makeshift abode. Although the two visitors help tend to the owner's vegetable garden, they have an agenda of their own. All three characters become entangled in a game of survival of the fittest.

I was expecting The Survivalist to look as bleak and dark as John Hillcoat's The Road (another dystopian film I like and admire) but Fingleton and his cinematographer Damien Elliott have deftly balanced the nighttime settings with day scenes showcasing the forest's rich foliage and verdant vegetation. The natural world is still left and it's a nice counterpoint to the savages, marauders, and raiders that the survivalist and his two guests have to withstand. Additionally, Fingleton wisely avoids probing back stories of any of the characters so it keeps the audience guessing how they'll act or continue making it. For example, I couldn't tell if Kathryn was a witch or a sorceress upon her first appearance. (Her long white hair makes her look like the younger sister of Willow's Fin Raziel.) She tries to act kind and is willing to barter with the survivalist. Both he and Milja say very few words but develop an odd romantic relationship. Milja seems to grow to like him much to the misgivings of her mum. The survivalist doesn't speak for the first nineteen minutes and his motives are couched strictly in instinct and experience. While The Survivalist contains various unpleasant moments, I found the film easier to watch and stomach than other post-apocalyptic works of its ilk. Fingleton has a nuanced understanding of visual storytelling and he's surely a director to watch.

The Survivalist Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Survivalist has already been available in high-def in Germany and the UK. It makes its North American premiere as a Blu-ray/DVD combo courtesy of Shout Factory. The movie appears in its original theatrical exhibition ratio of about 2.40:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. While the disc houses a handful of extras, Shout could have done more with the encode as the video bitrate averages just 29993 kbps. While the transfer is clean, I did notice a few very minor compression artifacts and debris. The greens look absolutely stunning especially damp leaves in the dim light. Skin tones appear natural with no traces of manipulation. Black levels are deep and don't show any blockiness.

Scream includes the same number of chapter selections (a dozen) as the UK BD.

The Survivalist Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Survivalist's sound track options consist of a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (1964 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo down-conversion (1720 kbps, 24-bit). I concentrated mainly on the former for this review. Dialogue is crisp, although words come out a bit muffled due to the sounds of nature. The latter's design is deep with excellent bass. Raindrops, tree branches, thickets, and footsteps are amplified in both the front and rear speakers. There is really no music (exempting Milja's harmonica playing) until the closing credits.

Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available for the main feature.

The Survivalist Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of The Survivalist (21:49, 1080p)

• Magpie Short Film (15:57, 1080p)

• Insulin Short Film (11:24, 1080p)

• Awaydays Short Film (11:49, 1080p)

• Original Theatrical Trailer (2:03, 1080p)

• Previews - three bonus trailers for other IFC titles that play in succession after the disc loads.

The Survivalist Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Survivalist is one of the better post-apocalyptic films out there and features flawless performances by the three leads. Martin McCann reminds of me of a young Viggo Mortensen and I look forward to seeing a lot more of him. Besides Fingleton's precise and assured direction, the other star on the crew is director of photography Damien Elliott. His sense of composition, framing, and movement elevate the film to another level. Shout Factory delivers a rock-solid transfer and excellent lossless audio that acutely captures the film's natural environment The making-of doc covers a lot of ground in twenty minutes and the inclusion of three short films that Fingleton worked on are a wonderful complement to the main feature. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.