Director: Michael Seater
Writer: Michael Seater
Stars: Helene Joy, Munro Chambers, Ricardo Hoyos
Review by Gilbert Seah
SADIE’S LAST DAYS ON EARTH is advertised as a teen comedy – a genre of film many moviegoers tend to avoid. To be fair to this genre of films, there have been many classics like FERRY BUELLER’S DAY OFF, SIXTEEN CANDLES or even exceptionally funny ones like LICENCE TO DRIVE and WEIRD SCIENCE. The key to teen comedies is to have a very identifiable teen like a loser trying to break out of his or her mould in a very identifiable situation that every adult has been in.
In SADIE’S LAST DAYS ON EARTH, modern teenage anxiety and the universal desire for acceptance from others and ourselves are explored through the protagonist Sadie. The teen in this story appears to be driving herself into a secluded mould of loneliness.
Sixteen-year-old Sadie Mitchell (Morgan Taylor Campbell, SPOOKSVILLE, THE KILLING) is convinced the world is about end. The script does not go into detail where she gets her source or the reason she is so convinced. This is obviously a big flaw as the whole film’s credibility hinges on this fact. Undeterred by the naysayers, Sadie has two weeks to ready herself for the coming apocalypse. The film goes with the titles counting down the last days of earth – as if it was going to happen. Sadie has a list of things she needs to master (a sort of bucket list); survivalist cuisine, knitting, but there are other things…personal things; go to a high school party, kiss a boy, and most importantly, get her best friend Brennan (Clark Backo, SHOOT THE MESSENGER) back. These are silly items, unfortunately only important to Sadie, and not to the audience or anyone else in the film for that matter. Within the first few minutes of the film, the audience is quickly detached from the heroine as well as the film. Armed with survival supplies, blueprints and escape routes, Sadie finds an unlikely ally in Jack (Ricardo Hoyos, DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION) who shows her that her last days on Earth might not be so bad after all.
Just one day before Sadie’s predicted last day, the town suffers a minor earthquake. Suddenly, the entire town believes Sadie’s prediction of Earth’s Last Days. There is of course, such a thing as a minor earthquake happening, so it is ridiculous to see the entire town turning into Chicken Littles.
The film’s corny message is that one should live life fully – as if the end of the world is near. Sadie also suffers from insecurity. Too many of the film’s character have to remind her that she is smart, funny and bold – which in my opinion, she is not.
Enough is enough. The film is so unwatchable and the characters so annoying (example: Sadie’s mother with an Australian accent; Sadie’s dj classmate with a fake British accent), that one soon begins counting down the minutes this film will end.
From the same director and writers of PEOPLE HOLD ON, SADIE’S LAST DAYS ON EARTH will likely be as forgettable as their first movie, which thankfully (about group of friends gathering together before a wedding ), I did not see.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLvcFfEMGRM
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