As a meteor smashes into the North Atlantic. A monstrous wall of fire bears down on the Australian Nation. You have less than 12 hours till total destruction. What would you do? Where would you go? Who would you spend these final hours with?  These are the questions asked by director Zak Hilditch’s apocalyptic thriller, These Final Hours.

With the chance to take stock and prepare for the end of the world, James, a troubled young man is desperate to get to a party, the last party ever and get wasted. But his mission is interrupted when he sees a young girl in distress and is drawn to help her.

These Final Hours starts not with a bang but with almost a deep thud of something truly dangerous. The film gets moving and never really lets up, the wall of fire almost pushing the film along. Its emotion of choice is the sense of foreboding. Check out the trailer bellow:

These Final Hours Trailer:

The film was written and directed by Zak Hilditch. He cites his transition into his 30’s and the moment of saying goodbye to his 20’s where he asked the question “Is there more to this than just getting pissed with your mates?” as a point in his life that inspired him to write the film.

Zak has spent the last 10 years getting this film, his first fully funded feature, off the ground. Previously he has made 3 “Backyard Features” as he calls them. Films that have been made on the smell of an oily rag. The $2.5 million budget for These Final Hours meant that the film required a more rigorous approach to the script writing process. The first draft of These Final Hours was selected for the Springboard program by Screen Australia. Over the course of 5 drafts the story was focused, trimmed and streamlined.

Zak Hilditch on These Final Hours:

These Final Hours was shot on the Arri Alexa but Zak declares that he would have shot the film on a DSLR or even a Camera Phone if he had to to tell his story. There is a burnt, sweaty look to These Final Hours. The Australian landscape lends its self to the look of a post apocalyptic setting with its sunburnt dry vistas and yet on the first day of filming it was raining, causing a bit of a problem as the film is set on a single scorching hot, very dry day. DOP Bonnie Elliott created the beautiful changing look of the film, moving from a warm hue all the way to an almost monochromatic red palate by the end of the film.

These Final Hours was released in 2014, but didn’t perform brilliantly at the Box Office here in Australia, which is a real shame as it’s a fantastic film. It looks great, it’s well acted and most importantly it’s very compelling. Thankfully the film has been sold around the world and it was selected to be screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Be sure to check out These Final Hours on DVD, Bluray or VOD.

More Info!!

These Final Hours website.
These Final Hours FaceBook Page.
These Final Hours IMDB page.
Reviews for These Final Hours here & here & here.