I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)
Momentum Pictures
Directed by: Reed Morano
Written by: Mike Makowsky
Starring: Elle Fanning and Peter Dinklage
I Think We’re Alone Now is cinematographer turned Emmy award winning director Reed Morano’s post apocalyptic drama that stars Peter Dinklage and Elle Fanning with an intriguing concept; what would you do if you were the only people left alive? Premiering earlier this year at Sundance Film Festival, I Think We’re Alone Now is a haunting yet tender story that explores solitude and human connection, but unfortunately treads into offbeat Black Mirror territory in an oddly out of place third act.
Dinklage plays Del, the lone survivor of a sudden and unexplained plague that has seemed to wipe out the rest of humanity. His days are filled with a set routine; he buries the dead of the small upstate New York town and cleans out their houses – salvaging batteries and photos while returning their library books along the way. In his down time, Del goes fishing and cooks what he catches, eating his meal with a glass of wine while watching the sunset from the sanctuary of his library. He’s seemingly content with the peace of this solitude and happy with his own company.
That’s until Grace (Fanning) literally crashes into his life, shattering his preconceived notion that he was utterly alone in the World. She disrupts his daily routine and neatly organised utopia with her constant questions and messy nature. At first Del is annoyed by her arrival and tells her to leave, but the determined teen hangs around until they bregrudingly become companions and later, friends. Del slowly opens up about his past in the town to Grace, admitting that he felt lonelier there before the apocalyptic event. But there’s still a lot of unexplained mystery surrounding Grace, where does she come from and why does she have a strange scar on the back of her neck?
I Think We’re Alone Now is a beautiful looking, yet haunting, film that features some absolutely stunning tracking shots and a wonderfully chilling score. Director-cinematographer Morano succeeds in building a realistic and believable post apocalyptic deserted World, littered with tattered American flags and deserted trucks. Morano has replicated a similarly muted and washed colour palette from her work on The Handmaids Tale, borrowing an equally eerie quietness too.
Dinklage and Fanning are both brilliant in this film, making the most of a mediocre script from Mike Makowsky. They have an excellent chemistry and it’s fascinating watching them slowly connect and open up to eachother throughout the film. Lets face it though, I could watch a whole movie featuring just the Game of Thrones star, I was completely mesmerised watching the open scene following Del’s daily routine. Morana built an intriguing mystery within this opening, posing multiple questions such as what triggered the mysterious plague that wiped everyone out and why was Del the only survivor?
Unfortunately the majority of these questions go unanswered in favour of a late plot twist in a mismatched third act, as the film delves from an art house indie into something more reminiscent of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror…
★★★
I Think We’re Alone Now is available on VOD from the 19th November.
