Go / Don't Go Review: A Slow Burning Indie Apocalypse Gem

Release date: January 12, 2021
Running time: 95 minutes
Starring: Alex Knapp, Olivia Luccardi, Nore Davis
Written and Directed By: Alex Knapp

Caught between a lost love story and inescapable paranoia, "Go / Don't Go" is a genre-bending slow burn thriller that follows Adam, a wallflower who happens to be the last person left alive-or so he thinks.

Go / Don't Go is a slow burning film that has you mostly following Adam (Knapp) as he goes about his daily life and deals with the guilt and boredom of being the only person in this strange situation.  The film has lots of cuts between Adam's earlier life and current situation, and often parallels are drawn between those two worlds.  And the film is definitely a slow burn, with an air of mystery surrounding a lot of the actions in the movie.  Adam's journey has to be closely watched as little clues are dropped throughout.  There is a decent amount of mystery here too as you don't know exactly what happened to leave him in this predicament.  And the film is careful to not reveal too much, as the movie is more about Adam and his psychology rather than the overall world situation.  However, this can lead to the first parts of the film being a little confusing as scenes happen without much context.  You slowly learn more about Adam's situation, but at the start you are not given much backstory.  I think this was by design as the director wanted to keep an air of mystery about this, but it is something to keep in mind. 

And the film is surprisingly well shot, with a nice, polished look.  The movie is definitely an indie but the cinematography is very good.  There are some really beautiful shots of nature and some clever shots of the newly abandoned world.  Stores are empty and run down, Adam's apartment is in disarray, and cars are left deserted.  The movie does a really good job of setting the scene and making this empty world feel lived in, or not lived in I guess.  It also does a great job of introducing a sense of dread and mystery to this world as sounds and events happen that make you wonder if Adam is truly alone.  And this is all sold through Alex Knapp's acting.  Much of the movie takes place with just him on screen so he has to carry a lot of the film.  Knapp took on a lot for this movie and it definitely shows that this is his passion project.  He is often joined in past flashbacks by a few characters, most notably Olivia Luccardi as Adam's girlfriend who appears to add some flavor to his backstory and also to add some explanation to his current mental predicament.  We area also joined occasionally by Adam's friend Nore Davis, who adds some much needed levity to the scenes that he is in.  It is a small cast but they are all perfectly utilized for this post-apocalyptic film.  And overall, the film's overarching mystery of what happened is confusing but fun to follow. 

Go / Don't Go weaves a mysterious, slow-burning story fueled by beautiful cinematography and the introspective performance of Knapp, Luccardi, and Davis, in this indie apocalypse gem.

Watch it.

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Go / Don't Go is available digitally and on demand January 12, 2021.

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