These Final Hours

Australia has previous with the apocalypse, whether waiting for nuclear Armageddon in ‘On the Beach’ or facing down the mutant hordes in the ‘Mad Max’ franchise. This DIY disaster movie takes its set-up from the former and its tone from the latter, as a meteor strike in the North Atlantic begins to wipe out all life on Earth, with the Aussies last in line. Our sort-of-hero is James (Nathan Phillips), who abandons his secret squeeze (Jessica De Gouw) to hit up a wild, drug-fuelled end-of-the-world party hosted by his official girlfriend (Kathryn Beck) and her nutjob brother (Daniel Henshall, the psycho from ‘Snowtown’).

But on the way he rescues ten-year-old Rose (Angourie Rice), and starts to wonder – somewhat late in the day – if there might be more to life than sleeping around and snorting coke. Competently directed, smartly scripted and acted with gusto, ‘These Final Hours’ rattles along nicely to a surprisingly effective climax. It takes a while to find its focus – and takes itself just a little too seriously – but as low-budget Ozploitation goes, it’s snappy and effective.