STACK Magazine December Issue 122

64 / 116

DVD&BD
DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi
FEATURE
064
visit
W estern Australian writer-director Zak
Hilditch’s debut feature is an apocalypse
film that doesn’t feature any zombies.
Indeed, the nature of the world-ending cataclysm
that’s creeping towards Perth in 12 hours time is
kept deliberately vague and serves more as a
device to explore how the characters will spend
the remaining time left to them, as opposed to
focusing on the spectacle of the calamity, like so
many films in this
sub-genre.
“Sci-fi films that focus
predominantly on the
human element in this
scenario are the ones
that have stuck with me,
less so the ones that get
overshadowed by the
cataclysm itself,” Hilditch
explains. “Writing These
Final Hours was, in a way,
an attempt to tell my
own version of a ‘people
reacting to a sudden and dramatically changed
world’ story that could satisfy all the things I
love about the sci-fi genre.”
The film’s central character, James, is an
irresponsible party boy who intends to spend
his final hours at the ultimate end of the world
bash, but instead finds himself travelling the
road to redemption when he chooses to
reunite a little-girl-lost named Rose with her
father.
“I wanted to explore the last day
on Earth through the eyes of an
everyman like James,” says
Hilditch. “He’s a guy unable to
face the end head on, who just
wants to go to the party to end
all parties and numb the pain,
but ultimately he realises that it’s
never too late to find redemption,
even in the face of the apocalypse.”
Seeking “someone with a bit
of grunt who can handle himself
in a tight spot, but who also has
the right amount of vulnerability to
allow the audience in”, Hilditch found
his everyman in Wolf Creek star Nathan
Phillips.
“Nathan transcended what was there
on the page and really injected so much
of himself into the character of James, it
was amazing to watch,” he says. “I simply
couldn’t imagine anyone but Nathan
portraying him.”
Equally crucial was the casting of Rose – the
‘ying’ to James’s ‘yang’. Hilditch chose Angourie
Rice, who had appeared in his 2012 short film
Transmission and whom he describes as “an
extraordinary young actress who is mature
beyond her years”.
“I knew she would be a formidable Rose,” he
adds. “She complements Nathan’s performance
so well… Rose is constantly
challenging James’s
morality until he ultimately
takes responsibility for
her and becomes the man
and father figure he was
reluctant to be.”
Crafting a small, intimate
apocalypse came with its
own set of challenges for
the writer-director. “Creating
a compelling sense of the
impending apocalypse on
a low budget was always
going to be a giant challenge,” Hilditch admits.
“Authentic, truthful performances from the cast
that capture humanity at its most extreme light
was integral to me selling a believable world on
the brink of destruction.”
Moreover, complementing the performances
and impending sense of doom with arresting,
gritty visuals and a dynamic soundscape allowed
Hilditch to effectively transport the audience into
James’s shoes.
“These Final Hours is an incredibly immersive
cinema experience that leaves the
audience not only gasping but also
hopefully reflecting on their own
relationships, considering who they
would want to be with if they knew
the end was nigh.”
How would you spend the end of the world?
That’s the question posed by writer-director
Zak Hilditch in his sweltering apocalypse
drama THESE FINAL HOURS.
Liz Kearney (Producer),
Nathan Phillips (James)
and Zak Hilditch
(Writer/Director)
Creating a compelling
sense of the impending
apocalypse on a low
budget was always going
to be a giant challenge
• These
Final Hours
is out on Dec 10