There have been an astonishing number of motion pictures exploring the various ways in which our world – from our efforts or not – will come to its collective doom.
Some might say that we have The Bible to thank for that, what with that seminal book having been written a few millennia ago and threatening each and every one of us with an Apocalypse of Biblical proportions. Naturally, the entertainment industry had to cash in on the phenomenon; and a quick Google.com search shows that over a century ago 1916’s Verdens Undergang – aka The End Of The World, aka The Flaming Sword – first gave audiences a look at ‘The End’ compliments to a comet passing much too closely to our world for good measure. Of course, there have been far too many to mention since that time; and the only real wrinkle in the cosmic fabric has been that the causes leading up to our expiration has expanded to include other natural disasters, unforeseen religious events, technology failures, man-made diseases, monster attacks, alien invasions, and even – ahem – global climate change. Mind you: as we get later into this century and into the next, creative minds will likely come up with a few more, so it pays to always stay buckled up.
Still, one needn’t be a Mad Max to realize that because this subset of Science Fiction films continues to be popular there will be more of them; and that’s what’s on the agenda for today’s discourse. 2024’s Cora – a sometimes SciFi, sometimes military thriller hybrid – springs from the fertile imaginations of screenwriters Sonny Laguna, David Liljeblad, and Tommy Wiklund with Laguna and Wiklund also pairing up for director responsibilities. This rather dour tour of duty stars Sanne Broström, Christian Bitar, Thomas Lennon, Andreas Rylander, and Felicia Rylander in significant roles; and before all is said and done audiences might find themselves scratching their heads over whether this particular ride through our last days was truly one worth taking.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
Some might say that we have The Bible to thank for that, what with that seminal book having been written a few millennia ago and threatening each and every one of us with an Apocalypse of Biblical proportions. Naturally, the entertainment industry had to cash in on the phenomenon; and a quick Google.com search shows that over a century ago 1916’s Verdens Undergang – aka The End Of The World, aka The Flaming Sword – first gave audiences a look at ‘The End’ compliments to a comet passing much too closely to our world for good measure. Of course, there have been far too many to mention since that time; and the only real wrinkle in the cosmic fabric has been that the causes leading up to our expiration has expanded to include other natural disasters, unforeseen religious events, technology failures, man-made diseases, monster attacks, alien invasions, and even – ahem – global climate change. Mind you: as we get later into this century and into the next, creative minds will likely come up with a few more, so it pays to always stay buckled up.
Still, one needn’t be a Mad Max to realize that because this subset of Science Fiction films continues to be popular there will be more of them; and that’s what’s on the agenda for today’s discourse. 2024’s Cora – a sometimes SciFi, sometimes military thriller hybrid – springs from the fertile imaginations of screenwriters Sonny Laguna, David Liljeblad, and Tommy Wiklund with Laguna and Wiklund also pairing up for director responsibilities. This rather dour tour of duty stars Sanne Broström, Christian Bitar, Thomas Lennon, Andreas Rylander, and Felicia Rylander in significant roles; and before all is said and done audiences might find themselves scratching their heads over whether this particular ride through our last days was truly one worth taking.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“After a deadly mist has wiped out most of humanity, a mysterious organisation is trying to save what's left of humankind.”
There’s an ambiguity to Cora that I need to address right away.
You see, for all intents and purposes our world has gone to crap. Now, in fairness, we don’t see all of it – what story there is in here revolves around only a handful of players across a very limited landscape – so perhaps there’s more out there that survived. While I wouldn’t be even cautiously optimistic about those chances, it’s still safe to conclude that Laguna, Wiklund, and Liljeblad’s story never makes it perfectly clear just how far and wide the devastation of our world from this phantom mist which now inhabits our atmosphere stretches, nor convincingly where it came from. Because those blanks are never filled in, I’m accepting this yarn as is … and – ahem – it has a good degree of blemishes to overcome along the way. There’s a bit of radio chitchat in the opening segments, but it’s so poorly modulated I couldn’t make head nor tails of it.
Further muddying the waters (as they say), we’re introduced to Cora (played by Felicia Rylander) without a great degree of context. She’s apparently one of the survivors living out her days in some experimental bunker – one that’s been resupplied by aerial drones for years – and as part of her duties she not only maintains peak physical fitness but keeps measuring the various gauges and instruments spread around her non-descript subterranean hideout and providing updates via some light computer technology. She could be a scientist. She could be a soldier. She is armed, and she’s forever frustrated that the machinery seems to be respectably fragile; and yet that’s all we really know about her and her circumstances. That, my friends, is pretty slim pickings.
Eventually, we see her go out and about in what’s left of the world outside, and it’s exceptionally grim. Largely, we see devastation – factories collapsed, cars totaled in open fields, houses decrepit, etc. – and it becomes clear something catastrophic has led to the fall of man. While there are some suggestions linking it all to this pervasive fog, the viewers are still left to fill in the holes, not that such information matters all that much. Basically, the creators have concocted this world in which Cora is our only connection; and on that front we take these narrative baby steps.
“After a deadly mist has wiped out most of humanity, a mysterious organisation is trying to save what's left of humankind.”
There’s an ambiguity to Cora that I need to address right away.
You see, for all intents and purposes our world has gone to crap. Now, in fairness, we don’t see all of it – what story there is in here revolves around only a handful of players across a very limited landscape – so perhaps there’s more out there that survived. While I wouldn’t be even cautiously optimistic about those chances, it’s still safe to conclude that Laguna, Wiklund, and Liljeblad’s story never makes it perfectly clear just how far and wide the devastation of our world from this phantom mist which now inhabits our atmosphere stretches, nor convincingly where it came from. Because those blanks are never filled in, I’m accepting this yarn as is … and – ahem – it has a good degree of blemishes to overcome along the way. There’s a bit of radio chitchat in the opening segments, but it’s so poorly modulated I couldn’t make head nor tails of it.
Further muddying the waters (as they say), we’re introduced to Cora (played by Felicia Rylander) without a great degree of context. She’s apparently one of the survivors living out her days in some experimental bunker – one that’s been resupplied by aerial drones for years – and as part of her duties she not only maintains peak physical fitness but keeps measuring the various gauges and instruments spread around her non-descript subterranean hideout and providing updates via some light computer technology. She could be a scientist. She could be a soldier. She is armed, and she’s forever frustrated that the machinery seems to be respectably fragile; and yet that’s all we really know about her and her circumstances. That, my friends, is pretty slim pickings.
Eventually, we see her go out and about in what’s left of the world outside, and it’s exceptionally grim. Largely, we see devastation – factories collapsed, cars totaled in open fields, houses decrepit, etc. – and it becomes clear something catastrophic has led to the fall of man. While there are some suggestions linking it all to this pervasive fog, the viewers are still left to fill in the holes, not that such information matters all that much. Basically, the creators have concocted this world in which Cora is our only connection; and on that front we take these narrative baby steps.
Thankfully, it isn’t all that long before Cora decides – with the failure of her bunker’s network – to venture to the next science station on foot. Once there, she finds that her counterpart – a male – has committed suicide, leaving behind a note that he’s uncovered some secret (never divulged) implying that the company behind all of the stations – Upper Reach (???) – has lied to them all. It’s this little nugget of discovery that inevitably puts Cora on her own search to uncover how far this conspiracy leads though the audience is never quite in sufficiently on their malfeasance for all of it to matter all that much.
Instead, this breakthrough really only serves as yet one more of Science Fiction’s biggest tropes in an already trope-filled existence that is Cora’s 100-minute runtime. Naturally, the conspiracy has layers, Cora herself is involved in it, mankind’s survivors don’t seem to give a damn about anything, Those left behind are largely thrown back to the Stone Age – albeit ammunition seems to always be in ample supply – and the sum total of what adventure there is in here is little more than the usual ‘battle for survival’ against directionless adversaries who’ll stop at nothing to kill or be killed in the race to the big finish. Since this has been done before, I’m not certain why anyone involved felt it needed to be done again; but kudos to all involved for giving it an admirable go. The Apocalypse ain’t easy to produce, and it’s even harder to do with little to no budget. I suspect not much was spent on this act of desperation, and it shows.
As a huge fan of Science Fiction in general, I still managed to find little snippets of joy exploring this dark aftermath.
Rylander is reasonably good here and there. There is a bit of a secret to her background but come the big finish I’m not all that sure that her ‘difference’ even really mattered. A few scenes are hampered by poor sound work. There’s the added requirement that the vast majority of dialogue take place via radios (since the air is contaminated) so those sequences are robbed of any emotional resonance as faces are obscured by masks and the audio was obviously augmented in post-production. Infrequently, there is some interesting cinematography brought in to punctuate the sheer hopelessness of what resembles extinction; but far too much of the feature gets weighed down by predictable camera angles and bland shot set-ups. A bit of variety might’ve spiced up the cinematic palate: it’s an Apocalypse, true, but it needn’t always look like one, you know. A tighter script – one that perhaps more strongly spelled out Cora’s desire other than having her computer turned back on – might’ve also made this one even modestly more special than it is; but it’s hard to tell given the lack of a central antagonist except for the usual nihilists who always seem to make it into the casts of these pictures.
Complicating matters a bit more is the fact that the script never quite explains how Cora was able to survive for as long as she did. At one point, we learn that the company completely ended its business of trying to salvage our world from this blight and went off in a completely different direction. Well, how was it the supply train of aerial drones was never deactivated? With the remaining resources dwindling in the process, are we supposed to blindly accept that no one would've diverted those goods and services elsewhere? Are we to accept that scavengers wouldn't have looted these warehouses for any single morsel of food, water, or clothing? There's a huge gaping hole left with the absence of any explanation, and I can't help but wonder if something was left on the cutting room floor that might've answered that query and made perfect sense.
Instead, this breakthrough really only serves as yet one more of Science Fiction’s biggest tropes in an already trope-filled existence that is Cora’s 100-minute runtime. Naturally, the conspiracy has layers, Cora herself is involved in it, mankind’s survivors don’t seem to give a damn about anything, Those left behind are largely thrown back to the Stone Age – albeit ammunition seems to always be in ample supply – and the sum total of what adventure there is in here is little more than the usual ‘battle for survival’ against directionless adversaries who’ll stop at nothing to kill or be killed in the race to the big finish. Since this has been done before, I’m not certain why anyone involved felt it needed to be done again; but kudos to all involved for giving it an admirable go. The Apocalypse ain’t easy to produce, and it’s even harder to do with little to no budget. I suspect not much was spent on this act of desperation, and it shows.
As a huge fan of Science Fiction in general, I still managed to find little snippets of joy exploring this dark aftermath.
Rylander is reasonably good here and there. There is a bit of a secret to her background but come the big finish I’m not all that sure that her ‘difference’ even really mattered. A few scenes are hampered by poor sound work. There’s the added requirement that the vast majority of dialogue take place via radios (since the air is contaminated) so those sequences are robbed of any emotional resonance as faces are obscured by masks and the audio was obviously augmented in post-production. Infrequently, there is some interesting cinematography brought in to punctuate the sheer hopelessness of what resembles extinction; but far too much of the feature gets weighed down by predictable camera angles and bland shot set-ups. A bit of variety might’ve spiced up the cinematic palate: it’s an Apocalypse, true, but it needn’t always look like one, you know. A tighter script – one that perhaps more strongly spelled out Cora’s desire other than having her computer turned back on – might’ve also made this one even modestly more special than it is; but it’s hard to tell given the lack of a central antagonist except for the usual nihilists who always seem to make it into the casts of these pictures.
Complicating matters a bit more is the fact that the script never quite explains how Cora was able to survive for as long as she did. At one point, we learn that the company completely ended its business of trying to salvage our world from this blight and went off in a completely different direction. Well, how was it the supply train of aerial drones was never deactivated? With the remaining resources dwindling in the process, are we supposed to blindly accept that no one would've diverted those goods and services elsewhere? Are we to accept that scavengers wouldn't have looted these warehouses for any single morsel of food, water, or clothing? There's a huge gaping hole left with the absence of any explanation, and I can't help but wonder if something was left on the cutting room floor that might've answered that query and made perfect sense.
Besides, as the film’s last scene suggests, what’s it all for anyway? If that’s truly the final expression to life as we know it, then why do we even film the story except to remind us of our shared futility? Is there a way for us to transcend our best and worst impulses, or are we forever doomed to galactic obscurity? Sometimes, it’s a question too big to ask; and while there is the smallest of hints (one might argue) that survival remains possible I would’ve hoped the writers and directors might’ve spelled it out succinctly so that we might find a bit of joy in such a small revelation.
Otherwise … what’s the point … especially to art?
Cora (2024) was produced by Stockholm Syndrome Film. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Black Mandala and Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights-and-sounds to be good in most cases and above average in a few. There’s a great deal of the picture that’s a bit hard to see by design, and I can’t help but wonder if dialing back all of the fog and dimness might’ve actually helped this one convey a stronger sense of purpose. Effects sequences are good at best, though a few could’ve used a bit more polish. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Erm … this is an odd duck of a release in that I couldn’t get the disc menu to work at all; and – during the closing credits sequence, there were some obvious deleted scenes playing out. Apparently, there’s no way to access them directly so I’ve no way to ascertain whether anything was gained or lost by the exclusion. A bit of a curious choice, if you ask me.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
This is the type of film I really, really, really wanted to like, but I ended up feeling no attachment to it whatsoever. My chief problem with Cora (2024) is that – as a story – it goes nowhere, essentially starting and ending in (literally) exactly the same place. Oh, one might argue that there’s a bit of discovery along the way, and, sure, some of that might be interesting; but there’s nothing entirely substantial that’s learned at any single stop along the way. Why, it’s almost like nothing matters in the end. Sadly, Cora is provided no journey to speak of – she bobs and weaves with rather obvious screenwriting invention – and there’s no central message to any of it … well, other than to say a kind of existential oblivion awaits all of us if we’re to continue marching forwarded untethered to the liabilities we create merely as a consequence of living. Doom and gloom pervades once again, and that’s kinda sad if for no other reason than so much of the Apocalypse photographed well.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Cora (2024) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
Otherwise … what’s the point … especially to art?
Cora (2024) was produced by Stockholm Syndrome Film. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Black Mandala and Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights-and-sounds to be good in most cases and above average in a few. There’s a great deal of the picture that’s a bit hard to see by design, and I can’t help but wonder if dialing back all of the fog and dimness might’ve actually helped this one convey a stronger sense of purpose. Effects sequences are good at best, though a few could’ve used a bit more polish. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Erm … this is an odd duck of a release in that I couldn’t get the disc menu to work at all; and – during the closing credits sequence, there were some obvious deleted scenes playing out. Apparently, there’s no way to access them directly so I’ve no way to ascertain whether anything was gained or lost by the exclusion. A bit of a curious choice, if you ask me.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
This is the type of film I really, really, really wanted to like, but I ended up feeling no attachment to it whatsoever. My chief problem with Cora (2024) is that – as a story – it goes nowhere, essentially starting and ending in (literally) exactly the same place. Oh, one might argue that there’s a bit of discovery along the way, and, sure, some of that might be interesting; but there’s nothing entirely substantial that’s learned at any single stop along the way. Why, it’s almost like nothing matters in the end. Sadly, Cora is provided no journey to speak of – she bobs and weaves with rather obvious screenwriting invention – and there’s no central message to any of it … well, other than to say a kind of existential oblivion awaits all of us if we’re to continue marching forwarded untethered to the liabilities we create merely as a consequence of living. Doom and gloom pervades once again, and that’s kinda sad if for no other reason than so much of the Apocalypse photographed well.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Cora (2024) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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