After seeing the trailer a while back for UNDERGODS I couldn’t wait to check out the movie that looked different from a lot of the movies that I’ve been watching, it looked dark and sinister.
In a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, K and Z roam the streets on the lookout for corpses and something even more valuable – fresh meat. The opening of the film with its distinctive blue colouring certainly has the feel of a world that has gone to hell as K (Johann Myers) and Z (Geza Rohrig) make their pickups and talking about life, we are then taken to a bright coloured scene of a couple, Couple Ron (Michael Gould) and Ruth (Hayley Carmichael), having a meal in a tower block which is pre-apocalyptic.
Undergods is a collection of stories that connect to each other in some way or another, but each main character in the three stories have something in common but I won’t go into that as it is a spoiler for the overall feel of the film and it’s best for you to work that out for yourself.
The first story takes us to Ron (Gould) and Ruth (Carmichael) who startled by a knock on the door of their apartment only to find out that their neighbour (Ned Dennehy) has been locked out and now he needs somewhere to stay but soon the tensions come to a head as the neighbour and Ruth become close and push Ron out of his own household.
The second story is introduced by a father (Khalid Abdalla) telling his daughter a bedtime story and sees Hans (Eric Gordon) making the mistake of double-crossing a stranger (Jan Bijvoet), but the stranger makes plans for his revenge. There is some great cinematography in this story, lookout for a scene that is in the dark and a moment that a match is lit, it looks perfectly shot, but things take a turn for the worse for Johann (Tadhg Murphy) and Hans!
The last story we move away from the horror of K and Z’s world to what seems to be present day and a mysterious stranger that appears at Rachel and Dominic’s kitchen table, the stranger is Rachel’s ex-husband, with Dominic (Adrian Rawlins) is distracted by winning a promotion at work and trying to suck up to his slimy boss (brilliantly played by Burn Gorman), Rachel (Katie Dickie) soon start moving her attention back to her ex-husband.
Undergods is a darkly crafted movie that had me gripped from the start, what really stands out about the movie is the wonderful 80s style soundtrack that runs through the film from the opening scene with the classic sounds synths, it reminded me in parts of Tangerine Dream who I love, to the upbeat 80s beats that continue throughout the film, but it’s not just that style the soundtrack also features some great dark foreboding music that works perfectly for the darker and more sinister scenes.
The decaying apocalyptic city looks great and as I mentioned earlier colour palette used for the scenes in this possible future gives the cityscape such a distinctive but very unnerving feel that just works perfectly. Chino Moya has brought us an intriguing and somewhat mysterious fantasy thriller that holds the viewer to the three stories while trying to see if there is a connection between them.
Made with the support of the BFI using funds from the National Lottery, the Wallonia Brussels Fund for Audiovisual and Cinema, the Estonian Cultural Fund, the Estonian Film Institute, Sweden’s Film I Vast and in association with the UK’s Sharp House, the film is produced by the UK’s Z56FILM in co-production with Velvet Films (Belgium), Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Media Plus (Serbia), Filmgate Films (Sweden) and Ridley Scott Creative Group’s Black Dog Films and RSA Films.
Undergods has a great cast including Kate Dickie (The Witch, Game of Thrones), Ned Dennehy (Mandy, Peaky Blinders), Geza Rohrig (Resistance, Son of Saul), Burn Gorman (Pacific Rim, Enola Holmes) and Tanya Reynolds (Emma., Sex Education).
From May 17, Undergods will be released day-and-date; in select cinemas nationwide and On-Demand simultaneously. A limited-edition Blu-ray and vinyl soundtrack are also planned for later in the year.
A Darkly Crafted Movie
Movie title: UNDERGODS
Movie description: An otherworldly journey through a Europe in decline - a collection of darkly humorous, fantasy tales about ill-fated characters and doomed fortune.
Date published: May 17, 2021
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 32min
Director(s): Chino Moya
Actor(s): Johann Myers, Geza Rohrig, Michael Gould
Genre: Fantasy, Thriller
Summary
Chino Moya has brought us a darkly crafted movie.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
