What’s it rated? PG-13
When? 2020
Where’s it showing? Redbox
Stuntman turned director Ric Roman Waugh (Felon, Snitch, Angel Has Fallen) helms this apocalyptic disaster thriller about a family struggling to survive and find safety as all life on Earth is imperiled by a cataclysmic comet from outer space.
Skyscraper builder John Garrity (Gerard Butler) is heading to his former home to attend his young son Nathan’s (Roger Dale Floyd) birthday party with his estranged wife, Allison (Morena Baccarin), and his former neighbors. He’s hoping to reconnect with his wife after a bout of infidelity when suddenly Florida is wiped out by fragments from a comet with more on the way. It quickly becomes clear life on Earth is about to end, and the film becomes a race for the Garritys to make it to underground bunkers in the titular Greenland.
Is a global pandemic the right time for a disaster film? Maybe not, but there’s something familiar about how quickly a segment of society seems to lose its moral compass at the first sign of trouble. Watching Butler’s husband and father character wade through hell to save his family is B-movie fun. (119 min.) Δ
This article appears in Spring Arts Annual 2021.