Stunned, shocked, then struck by hidden optimism.

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2008)

Actually there's nothing out of the ordinary in the way this movie begins, and you think you've got it all figured out right from the start. Then there is twist upon twist - and yet the ending remains shocking! This is something as unusual today as a movie with an important message. Many films claim to have a message of this kind but few of them do. It has something important to say about hope, personal courage and not letting your fear get the better of you. In short: Having a little faith in the future.
For example: David, does not opt to accompany the woman who has left her two children at home alone, something that perhaps we, the audience, would expect our hero to do. Had he done this he may have been able to save his wife as we see in the end when the woman returns with her unharmed children. Mrs Carmody actually shows some courage and resolve (faith) when attacked by one of the giant insects and thus survives without being stung. Amanda Dumfries gradually loses her faith in the fundamentally good in humanity and gives up, despite her natural inclination towards optimism. The irony is blatant in a key scene at the end when David risks his life reaching for the gun that will finally seal his fate and the fate of the ones he is trying to protect. The most dangerous enemy of him and his son turned out in fact to be neither the monsters nor the psychotic sect-people from the supermarket, but he himself.
I never thought I would get this much out of seeing a commercial horror movie, and though I firstly found the ending horribly dark and depressing it later struck me what hidden optimism there is. It says "give it another go, wait and see" and, frankly, I think it should be seen by anyone seriously thinking about "giving up".