Home Entertainment: ’Final Days’ digital review

Having already been released in some parts of the world under the name Alone, this week sees the UK release of the newly named Final Days. The film joins Teen Wolf star Tyler Posey’s Aiden, a young man who finds himself stranded at home at the start of a horrific viral outbreak. In typical apocalypse fashion, this virus comes with cannibalistic and regenerative symptoms, and Aiden finds himself with no option but to lock himself in his apartment. As the days turn into weeks, and with his food supply dwindling, he must come to terms with what might be waiting for him on the other side of the door if he wants to continue his mission to survive. 

Director Johnny Martin has had a prolific career within the world of stunts having worked on films including The Rock, Starship Troopers, Titanic, and The Matrix Reloaded. The last decade or so has seen him shift into the directing seat, a route that several other former stunt-performers have followed, with Final Days being his sixth feature film. His background in action means that there are several cool little action set-pieces; one involving an infected man scaling an apartment like he’s out for a leisurely jog is particularly impressive. This foundation and focus on action within Martin’s career seeps through into the piece whereas character development and arcs are underplayed, and stuck in the land of archetypes. It’s a disappointing development as the film is actually based on a script by writer Matt Naylor, the same script from which Netflix’s #Alive was worked from.  

#Alive arrived on Netflix a few months ago and plays out the scenario in Korea. The bulk of the story is the same, but there are a lot of nuances and directorial decisions that separate the two films. Sadly, Final Days comes across as the weaker interpretation of the source material. These wobbles stem from the reliance on stereotypes and tropes, as well as an inability to properly balance the pacing between Aiden being cooped up indoors and racing around amongst infected. There are seemingly endless drawn out scenes of him moping around his apartment and very little in the way of anything that drives the plot forward for the first hour or so of the film. #Alive has a much punchier pace, and effortlessly fills in gaping plot holes (like food supply) apparent in Final Days. The representation of the lone female character is also far more progressive in the Korean offering. Here, Aiden’s neighbour, Eva (Summer Spiro), is trapped firmly into both damsel and love interest stereotypes. Martin also goes out of his way to morph Aiden into some kind of action hero, but the move doesn’t really work. 

Tyler Posey tries his hardest to make Aiden a likeable everyman, but his character never gets much time to develop. That feels like somewhat of an oxymoronic statement to make given how much time is spent with Aiden just festering in his abode, and yet somehow this time is squandered. We see so much of him and yet don’t really begin to learn much until he connects with Eva, and even then it’s the bare minimum. It’s certainly not enough for the viewer to fully sympathise with the character, and watching the story play out now, when the whole world has been trapped within their own four walls, just makes the distance grow further. Obviously this reaction is something that no one could have prepared for, and Final Days is a work of fiction afterall, but that lingering feeling that Aiden could handle his plight better, still remains. 

With Final Days riddled in cliches and stereotypes it is hard to believe that it stems from the same source material as the vastly superior #Alive. If you’ve already seen #Alive then there’s little point in watching Final Days, you’ll only be left disappointed. If you’ve yet to see either, then #Alive is the much more entertaining prospect. 

Signature Entertainment presents Final Days on DVD and Digital Platforms 12th April.