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From the trailer, in the shadow of the nuclear war, a mother has to make an unthinkable decision in a bid to save her kids. Written and directed by Ian Killick. Starring Evie Templeton, Anna Andresen, and Sura Dohnke.
Certain subtle decisions are made by the filmmaker Bunker that really put the camera work to good use. Right away, a sense of dread and potential danger is established even before context or characters are introduced. That anxiety heightens with every scene. In addition, Ian Killick and Matt Gillan Kieran chose to accentuate the color with an interesting grain texture that blends more seamlessly into the footage. Quite often, the true richness of dystopian-themed films is sacrificed in order to maintain the sci-fi feel of the story.
Killicks’s writing, similarly, tends to concentrate on the inner workings of a character as opposed to what they actually utter or undertake. This is interestingly quite riveting to observe when the tension is satisfactorily high. You could contend that the plot is rather simple but it works and feels like the right choice instead of overcomplicating or rushing to tell the story and ending up with something convoluted, which is another common problem with dystopian cinema. This is not to suggest, however, that Killick does not fit a lot into those half-a-dozen minutes. He does, and it touches on issues of family, survival, and psychology. Especially as it is a questioning story and one that fosters a good discussion about the hardest decisions in almost critical moments.
As always, those captivating mind tricks would not be half as powerful without the stellar performances by Evie Templeton, Anna Andresen, and Sura Dohnke. Dohnke, for example, provides the emotional core of the story. A mother’s love and devotion to her children during trying times is always an interesting case to study, and Dohnke certainly knows how to make it work. She portrays Helen as empathetic and selfless but also very logical. You can see she is very capable, but she is also vulnerable. Selfless but logical, strong but sympathetic. She has every classic attribute you could expect from a leading character.
These traits have also been perfectly captured in Evie Templeton’s portrayal of Bess. Templeton portrays Helen’s daughter with a different perspective, a bit of childish uncertainty, and a tone of fear, but she does not bury the strength and fortitude expected from her. And last but not least, Anna Andresen gives us a wily quality, she’s incredibly stubborn but really on the edge. Andresen does a great job of showing how they are motivated by the same fear Helen and Bess have. These three ladies are perfect at creating dramatic yet highly realistic characters in a couple of minutes while simultaneously embodying emotions like intensity and threat.
The Bunker is done effectively based on its storyline and style of filming. It makes use of particular site selections that are very effective and economical at the same time. Much effort is placed on minute particulars of the film which helps the film maintain its simple nature while adding emotional depth to it. It is similar to what might be expected in the second half of a feature film edit to ninety minutes long, but Ian Killick manages to achieve this in just a few minutes.
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