It is indeed a MAD world we are spiraling in.
With the pulsating synths from composer Wojciech Golczewski crystalizing the haunting blue atmosphere, Undergods ROARS to life as human bodies - dead and swarming with flies - are picked up off the deserted streets by two strangers (Geza Rohrig and Johann Myers) and piled into a dilapidated truck. This is the future and it isn’t pretty, but - DAMN - if it isn’t memorable as towering buildings surrounding the filth and the much of this nightmare become unsettling images for us to digest . . . along with all the FRESH MEAT piled in that back of that rattling truck.
But this is not their story alone. Undergods, like Metropolis so many years before it, is about distinguishing the layers that divide and inspire us. From RIDLEY SCOTT'S Scott Free Productions and director Chino Moya, this imagining of a world gone BONKERS has a good grasp on the images that it - according to his vision - will include . . . and, made complete with the anxiety that hugs every sequence, it is a cold, cold, and chilling place to be.
That palette is one of Undergods' many successes. The other is the slippery slope of moral decay which tugs at each sequence. Especially the one which features a close-up view of what goes on in towering buildings when one tenant (Ned Dennehy) locks himself out of his room and is invited to crash on the couch of a couple who thought they were the only ones in the building. Civilized, yes, but the drama which unfolds in this story-within-a-story situation is, to put it mildly, SHOCKING.
Undergods is set in a dystopian future in which the world, broken into interconnecting stories about civilization and disorder, comes to life in an unsettling manner that is all about the FUTURESHOCK of that experience. The movie is on point with its development of themes thanks to the visual metaphors which suggest civility butting heads with chaos. Everything about this production works to create a tension that is both inspiring and revelatory.
Following its world premiere at Fantasia last year, the film went on to celebrate its UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival in February. Since then, Undergods has gone on to receive two British Independent Film Award nominations and now it is ready for its American debut. But are you ready for its HAUNTING presence?
From Gravitas Ventures, Undergods stars Kate Dickie (The Witch, Game of Thrones), Ned Dennehy (Mandy, Peaky Blinders), Geza Rohrig (Resistance, Son of Saul), Burn Gorman (Pacific Rim, Enola Holmes) and Tanya Reynolds (Emma., Sex Education). It will be released in theaters and On Demand this Friday, May 7.
Prepare yourself for a sobering and mesmerizing experience. There is nothing HOLY about where Undergods descends.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 94 mins
Director: Chino Moya
Writer: Chino Moya
Cast: Johann Myers, Géza Röhrig, Michael Gould
Genre: Fantasy | Thriller
Tagline: A film by Chino Moya.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor: Gravitas Ventures
Official Site:
Release Date: May 7, 2021
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: In a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, K and Z roam the streets on the lookout for corpses and something even more valuable – fresh meat.
