A scene from After the Dark (Phase 4 Films)

Suspension of disbelief has never been a difficult concept for me to accept. Yet, one accomplishment of writer/director John Huddles’s After the Dark has been to reinforce my disbelief entirely. The film opens with two sculpturally attractive college (oh wait, they’re actually in high school) students fornicating in an achromatic, modern master bedroom with a view of a garden. We follow the couple into their philosophy classroom, you know, the normal kind in Jakarta, Indonesia, with carved mahogany doors. It is the last day of high school for a class of privileged international seniors, and their ruggedly handsome English philosophy teacher decides to give his students a mental exercise concerning a hypothetical atomic apocalypse.

The students are expected to pluck pieces of paper from a wooden box that proclaim a profession. Based on this information, the 21 students must vote on who among them would be worthy of a spot in a post-apocalyptic bunker which can only support the lives of 10 people. Though this “philosophical” exercise is merely a presummer mind game invented by the teacher, the students become disgusted at the idea of coldly selecting classmates based on their worth in the survival of society.

Once again, suspension of disbelief becomes difficult as Mr. Zimmern (James D’Arcy) is depicted as a sadist sans motive, and the group of students take his scenarios to heart.  We all remember the traits of high schoolers, and stoicism is not a common one, especially on the last day of the year. Furthermore, there is nothing truly at stake; the danger is a hypothetical situation. With no actual risk, save for a few students dropping a letter grade, you are left with a weak plot and unsympathetic characters.

The film continues with a series of CGI enhanced scenarios of the students in bunkers: procreating, living, dying, et cetera. They go through a number of different possibilities as if they are playing rounds of Dungeons and Dragons, yet it is never clear what the actual point of such exercises is. This is the type of movie which is aimed at a preteen to young adult audience, punctuated more with high-octane electronic music than realistic dialogue. The story is forced and unrealistic, the acting is embarrassing at best, and with characters named Chips and Petra, it is difficult to feel anything for the characters other than mild attraction.

The most After the Dark has to offer as a film is a handful of attractive people and a few shots of Jakarta scenery.