Synopsis
2020 Doomsday shadows a tightly knit cult hiding in a remote desert enclave as they prepare for the prophecy of the impending Apocalypse. Two dissenters try to escape the threat of extinction - which becomes ever more real - through the vast desert wasteland as the cult embarks on a mass suicide pact to prepare themselves for life after the end of the world in the hope that they can find a way in the afterlife.
(That is word for word off the back of the DVD box because, honestly, I wouldn't have known how to describe this one.)
Review
Before I get to talking about the film I want to talk about false advertising.
Whenever I go to Tesco I take a walk through the DVD aisle to see if there are any bargains. I spotted this...
The cover art looks like it's right up my street, I love disaster movies! Tsunami hitting a city, helicopters, lightning, Mayan looking engraving... well played! It ticked all the boxes. I read the description (above) and was surprised that it didn't match with the visual impression, but then it wouldn't be the first time I'd read blurb that seemingly had nothing much to do with the overall film. So I shrugged and dropped the DVD into my trolley.
If I was a different person I'd take this back and demand a full refund of my £3. I'm not that person. I'm the person that's going to give it to her mother and tell her she'll really enjoy it so I can make someone else feel the bitter pain of disappointment. Cruel, I know. We both love shitty films, but we love moaning about shittier films even more, and I know this one will appal her just as much as it did me. When you promise disaster movie, you'd better delivery disaster movie!
This film is listed a being called Polaris, The Blessed Ones and now 2020: Doomsday... it doesn't matter what name you give it, it's still an abomination.
There really is potential in the idea, but sadly no redeeming feature to the final product. Even a bad script can be elevated by the acting, but in both cases here it's all bad. Johnathan Erickson Eisley who plays Draco fairs better than the others, although I suspect that's only because Draco is quite blunt about everything he does, so the short sharp moments in the script just come across as character traits.
I understand that this has a tiny budget, but even so, it feels like no excuse for so many dubious issues. For example, with a small budget it seems daft to put in digital effects of any description in. There are cult videos that play at points in the movie that are made up of static scrolling (some of this is in the trailer above), I can't see a logical point for this at the beginning of the film, had it happened on the one nearer the end I might have thought they were trying to show the descent into the cult... if I was feeling optimistic. Regular videos would have worked just as well.
There are also a lot of space-like shots that appear when our cult leader is feeling particularly... thoughtful? Again, the effects aren't great and don't make a lot of sense when the explanation of the prophecy is masked so much by the film. I couldn't tell you what the prophecy is. Its reveal is buried in a stark opening montage and the cult video... and I'm not even convinced it's in the opening montage now I think about it, but I'm sorry, I'm not putting it back on to find out.
Beyond the effects, the camerawork is pretty ropey. You may already know of my dislike for shaky camerawork, it's rife in this. When it isn't bobbing about like Weeble we get treated to some extreme close-ups that show every single pore. I don't even see that much when I'm leaning into the mirror in the mornings.
When the lighting wasn't terribly dark it looked like there was a filter over the lens giving it that "vintage" look. In fact, have you ever taken a free trial on some editing software or an app and instantly tried all the possible options on one piece of work? The final cut of this film could conceivably be the results of such an event.
As I said somewhere above in the moaning, the storyline had potential, maybe as more of a Criminal Minds style event than a cult film. I did like the way the timeline was handled in it, it was simple and jumped back and forth with ease through the events.
I live low budget movies, they're quirky and many go for the "so bad they're good" category. This could have made it into that category but with so many negatives mounting up in every scene it's going to have to stay in plain old "bad.
What you should do
Don't bother watching this one at all. Seeing it will not enhance your life. I'm not even angry that I've wasted time of my life watching it because I'm still in shock that this even made it into an actual DVD format in a major retailer.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I want nothing from this film. I don't even want this film.
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