The Park (2023)
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The Park is an ambitious little indie movie from first time director Shal Ngo, who until now has done only short films. I’m unfamiliar with his work but am a fan of survival/post-apoc-type movies, so I went in hoping for a decent effort from the subgenre. Sadly, what I got instead was more like a failed childhood drama.
The story is set in a dystopian future where anyone above puberty age has mysteriously died off by some kind of new virus. This leaves the rest of society as nothing but children just trying to survive the harsh world that’s no longer run by adults. Despite the far-reaching storyline, the movie feels almost like a bottle film, because it only centers on a few characters and takes place primarily in just one location.
Specifically, we follow two friends named Bui and Ines, who are hardened survivors in search of a “genius kid” who has supposedly found a cure for the virus. During their travels they come across an old theme park that’s run by a feisty little girl named Kuan. Regardless of their differences and initial instinct to murder each other, the trio ultimately learn to live together.
Most of the movie is spent with the trio as they get to know each other and do various tasks in and around the park, which is all fine and dandy until a group of supposedly feral kids known as the “blue meanies” show up, forcing them to either fight or flee. While the movie does have violence and kids killing other kids, most of it is pretty tame or shown off screen. In fact, despite the Lord-of-the-Flies-esque premise, the movie focuses more on the ideals and drama between characters than anything else. Even the survival aspect of this dark world is backseat to what seems to be a blossoming friendship between kids--the last thing I care about as a viewer.
Either way, whatever message the movie attempts to get across is lost due to bad writing and questionable acting. In the end, the movie felt too bland and unnecessarily dramatic for its own good, especially for viewers (like myself) expecting to see kids struggle to survive this violent new world, which is only shown in bits and pieces. Luckily, the film is actually quite short, clocking in at only 80-minutes, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.