Each year, Pigeon Shrine FrightFest carves time out of their schedule to highlight a special strand of programming called First Blood. These titles highlight some of the newest and more interesting voices working within UK genre cinema. Every year the line-up covers a wide spectrum of subgenres, and this year’s selection was no exception. From alien invasions in Touchdown, to a cannibal serial killer in Protein, and a Gothic horror with a basement dwelling creature in The Monster Beneath Us, the programming had something for every taste. Those craving a post apocalyptic action drama were rewarded with Benjamin Goodger’s Year 10.
A cataclysmic event has blackened the sky, plunging the earth into an endless winter. Toxic clouds turned rain to acid, crops can’t grow, and the human race is all but extinct. Deep in the dying forest, Son (Toby Goodger) and his Father (Duncan Lacroix) eke out an existence scavenging the wreckage of the former world. Though their lives are bleak, they have each other. But when Son’s girlfriend (Hannah Khalique-Brown) is struck down by an infection, everything falls apart. A group of violent cannibals descend on their safe haven, take the antibiotics keeping his girlfriend alive, and a treacherous journey into the unknown begins.
Told entirely without dialogue, Year 10 has plenty of great ideas for the viewer to dig into. The cinematography is especially beautiful and Benjamin Goodger does excellent work in making the world on screen appear remote and abandoned. In the lead up to Year 10’s world premiere at FrightFest, Benjamin Goodger, Toby Goodger, and Duncan Lacroix walked the media wall line and spoke with THN about making a silent genre film, the benefit of a lead actor having a background in cinematography, and how the First Blood strand helps new voices break through.
Year 10 screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.
