Brian Patrick Butler’s Friend of the World is an evocative indie gem serving a little bit of science fiction, some dark comedy, and a healthy dose of body horror. Drawing inspiration from cult classics like The Thing and La Jetée, Butler contributes to the genre collection with this introspective and deceptively simple piece.
Alexandra Slade plays Diane Keaton (Yes, that is her actual name), a young filmmaker who wakes up in a war bunker at the end of the world. She frantically searches for a way out, maneuvering around lifeless bodies. The camera follows her with a deliberate sweep over a shot of still legs in high heels, a fleeting indication that no one expected anything like this bloody scenario.
The ensuing story is divided into chapters, the second of which is titled an ironic “Boy Meets Girl”; as it turns out, the following encounter is anything but a meet-cute. Diane soon finds she’s not alone in the bunker, discovering a man who happens to be her polar opposite.
General Gore (Nick Young) thinks he’s something of a filmmaker himself, although his war propaganda is a far cry from Diane’s artful images. Gore’s straightforward outlook mirrors the black-and-white style of Friend of the World. He’s the irascible, middle-aged, conservative, straight White man to Diane’s calm, a young, liberal, gay Black woman.
Although Slade’s and Young’s performances felt at times incongruous with the other, it is their interactions that make this feature so engrossing. They are nuanced, and (thankfully) not portrayed as strictly evil and good. Still, we are caught with Diane in a state of emotional limbo concerning General Gore–somewhere in between respect and resentment.
Gore has the wisdom and resourcefulness to help Diane survive in this foreign world, after all; yet we cannot forget his partial responsibility in its very destruction. The film would be uniquely compelling if just focused on the dynamic of these two and the exigent questions their situation raises. Its psychedelic horror and gripping elements of mystery, however, elevate the feature’s core purpose to new levels.
A provocative commentary on personal and environmental corruption, Friend of the World is sure to elicit visceral responses from viewers. Highly recommended for patrons seeking a genre-defying post-apocalyptic tale, this is a worthy addition to speculative fiction library shelves.