Scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) awakes one morning to realise he may be the only person left alive on Earth. Left to wander through a deserted New Zealand landscape, Zac discovers that all life has apparently vanished, literally overnight.
Half-eaten meals sit unfinished in their trays, empty cars are strewn recklessly across the roadways, and, in one inspired scene, Zac passes a random blaze in a levelled building, caused by a felled Air New Zealand jet, devoid of passengers but with their seatbelts fully buckled. The planet is deserted.
Disoriented, the scientist returns to the high-tech research establishment where he was employed, only to learn that a covert global operation called Project Flashlight – run in conjunction with the US Defence Department – has had something to do with the catastrophic “Effect” that has eliminated all life from the planet.
At first, he can’t process what’s happened, slipping between bursts of madness and self-pitying despair, but he gradually develops a way of life – moving into an enormous mansion and plundering the deserted metropolis, impulsively looting department stores and feeding his uncontrolled whims – until he eventually degenerates into a morass of alcohol and depression.
Bruno Lawrence gives a beguiling central performance as someone who suddenly can live out his fantasies, enjoying the empty city without guilt or interference.
Shot against stunning Auckland backdrops by Geoff Murphy, the acclaimed Kiwi director of the Māori historical drama Utu(1983), the early section develops a strong sense of mystery, but after Lawrence discovers two other survivors – free-spirited Joanne (Alison Routledge) and macho Māori Api (Pete Smith) – the script follows an all-too-predictable path, albeit leading to a very *unpredictable* ending.
Disoriented, the scientist returns to the high-tech research establishment where he was employed, only to learn that a covert global operation called Project Flashlight – run in conjunction with the US Defence Department – has had something to do with the catastrophic “Effect” that has eliminated all life from the planet.
It’s an intriguing if not altogether original concept. The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) and Charlton Heston’s cult The Omega Man (1971) were there first.
Zac Hobson
