Directed by Ben Young; starring Michael Peña, Mike Colter and Lizzy Caplan; Extinction is a Netflix sci-fi thriller. One where a father’s recurring nightmare showing his family in grave danger becomes a reality.
What I’d love to be writing at this point is: ‘The tide has finally turned. At long last, we have a good Netflix movie‘. But instead, the very best I can say about Extinction is that the full premise, which isn’t completely revealed until towards the last third of the film, is exciting. It’s just unfortunate that when the revelation finally comes, you may not find yourself as thrilled and or delighted story-wise as you might have imagined.
The acting isn’t bad, but I found the all-important big revelation very underwhelming, thanks to the story structure/edit and, no doubt, the low budget. The script needed more development because ‘hollow’ is how Young’s movie felt. Instead of me celebrating a well-executed film that had a brilliant premise, I’m left thinking about how big a missed opportunity Extinction has turned out to be.
Watch it if you absolutely must. Otherwise, there’s Minority Report (2002); which isn’t very similar to Extinction, but it is undoubtedly a rather good movie.
Happy Film Loving,
G
