The Last Days

Àlex and David Pastor's post-apocalyptic film de-emphasizes the horror aspects in favor of romance and suspense. Marc (Quim Gutiérrez), a Barcelona computer programmer, stays at work because the outside world has become inhospitable. As the film alternates between the days leading up to the Panic and the three -month period afterward, viewers follow the progression: at first, a few people get sick when they venture outside, but then everyone becomes susceptible to a deadly form of agoraphobia. Unable to leave their office building, Marc and his co-workers create a makeshift community, but he hasn't been able to reach his girlfriend, Julia (Marta Etura). After the team bores a tunnel into the subway, Marc's boss, Enrique (José Coronado)—aka “The Terminator”—offers to help Marc return home (although Enrique actually has his own destination in mind). In the subway, the two men encounter a Wild West scenario, and when a thief swipes their GPS, a gunfight ensues. The pair manage to escape, but once they reach Marc's building, they find no sign of Julia, so they attempt to solve the mystery. During their journey, the men face immigrant squatters, escaped zoo animals, and even a little overwrought melodrama. A low-budget, sometimes hokey film, The Last Days nevertheless boasts enough originality to make it a strong optional purchase. (K. Fennessy)