Carriers (film)
Encyclopedia
Carriers is a 2009 American horror film
about four people fleeing a viral pandemic
. It was written and directed by Àlex Pastor and David Pastor and stars Lou Taylor Pucci
, Chris Pine
, Piper Perabo
and Emily VanCamp
.
On their way there, they meet a man, Frank, and his infected young daughter Jodie, and end up taking them to a place where a serum for the pandemic has been developed. Upon arrival they discover that the serum doesn't work, and the only doctor still alive is about to commit suicide with a remaining group of infected children. Meanwhile, Bobby is accidentally infected by Jodie while trying to help her. She hides her infection from the others. They leave Frank and Jodie behind.
After this, they stop at a golf course, and though Bobby tries to prevent it, Brian kisses her. The golf course is being used as a base by a small group of armed survivalists, who capture the group. They disrobe the girls to check for infection, discover Bobby's, and send them away. Kate stresses that they will end up dead if Bobby continues to travel with them and Brian ends up leaving a weeping Bobby behind at a deserted gas station.
They almost run out of fuel but encounter two women heading in the opposite direction to them. Danny asks for help but they refuse and a desperate Brian shoots them for their fuel, but not before one of the women shoots Brian in the leg. Brian later breaks down under the pressure of having to make all of the difficult decisions in order to keep everyone alive, and Danny discovers that his brother is also infected. At Kate's urging, he shoots Brian and burns his mask and the disease-ridden body. Afterward, Danny and Kate reach Turtle Beach and Danny realizes that, without his brother, the place that had seemed so special to them as kids is now empty.
until September 2009.
It grossed $90.8k in US and $4,577,219 worldwide.
based on 31 reviews. Rob Nelson, a top critic from Variety
said: "Put into extremely limited release by Paramount Vantage after spending years in studio lockdown, Carriers has moments of genuinely communicable horror and thus deserves better than a de facto theatrical quarantine". Paul Chambers from CNN Radio said: "A little more realistic than a zombie flick. Some renegade virus could make the world a "survival of the fittest" ordeal. A very interesting story with some nice reveals". Charles Cassady from Common Sense Media
said: "Gloom, not thrills, in sci-fi drama of worldwide plague".
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
about four people fleeing a viral pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
. It was written and directed by Àlex Pastor and David Pastor and stars Lou Taylor Pucci
Lou Taylor Pucci
Lou Taylor Pucci is an American actor who first appeared on film in Rebecca Miller's well received Personal Velocity: Three Portraits in 2002....
, Chris Pine
Chris Pine
Christopher Whitelaw "Chris" Pine is an American actor. He has appeared in the romantic comedies The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Just My Luck , as well as the action films Smokin' Aces and Unstoppable . In 2009, he portrayed James T...
, Piper Perabo
Piper Perabo
Piper Lisa Perabo is a Golden Globe Award nominated American stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Perabo was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, the daughter of Mary Charlotte , a physical therapist, and George William Perabo, a professor of poetry at Ocean...
and Emily VanCamp
Emily VanCamp
Emily Irene VanCamp is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles on the WB series Everwood as Amy Abbott and on the ABC series Brothers & Sisters as Rebecca Harper...
.
Plot
An infectious virus has spread worldwide, killing almost everyone. Two brothers, Brian and Danny, along with Brian's girlfriend Bobby and Danny's friend Kate, are heading to a place called Turtle Beach where they believe they can wait for the viral pandemic to die out.On their way there, they meet a man, Frank, and his infected young daughter Jodie, and end up taking them to a place where a serum for the pandemic has been developed. Upon arrival they discover that the serum doesn't work, and the only doctor still alive is about to commit suicide with a remaining group of infected children. Meanwhile, Bobby is accidentally infected by Jodie while trying to help her. She hides her infection from the others. They leave Frank and Jodie behind.
After this, they stop at a golf course, and though Bobby tries to prevent it, Brian kisses her. The golf course is being used as a base by a small group of armed survivalists, who capture the group. They disrobe the girls to check for infection, discover Bobby's, and send them away. Kate stresses that they will end up dead if Bobby continues to travel with them and Brian ends up leaving a weeping Bobby behind at a deserted gas station.
They almost run out of fuel but encounter two women heading in the opposite direction to them. Danny asks for help but they refuse and a desperate Brian shoots them for their fuel, but not before one of the women shoots Brian in the leg. Brian later breaks down under the pressure of having to make all of the difficult decisions in order to keep everyone alive, and Danny discovers that his brother is also infected. At Kate's urging, he shoots Brian and burns his mask and the disease-ridden body. Afterward, Danny and Kate reach Turtle Beach and Danny realizes that, without his brother, the place that had seemed so special to them as kids is now empty.
Cast
- Lou Taylor PucciLou Taylor PucciLou Taylor Pucci is an American actor who first appeared on film in Rebecca Miller's well received Personal Velocity: Three Portraits in 2002....
as Danny - Chris PineChris PineChristopher Whitelaw "Chris" Pine is an American actor. He has appeared in the romantic comedies The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Just My Luck , as well as the action films Smokin' Aces and Unstoppable . In 2009, he portrayed James T...
as Brian - Piper PeraboPiper PeraboPiper Lisa Perabo is a Golden Globe Award nominated American stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Perabo was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, the daughter of Mary Charlotte , a physical therapist, and George William Perabo, a professor of poetry at Ocean...
as Bobby - Emily VanCampEmily VanCampEmily Irene VanCamp is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles on the WB series Everwood as Amy Abbott and on the ABC series Brothers & Sisters as Rebecca Harper...
as Kate - Christopher MeloniChristopher MeloniChristopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz.-Early life:Meloni was born the youngest of three children in...
as Frank - Kiernan ShipkaKiernan ShipkaKiernan Brennan "Kiki" Shipka is an American child actress noted for playing Don and Betty Draper's daughter Sally on the AMC series Mad Men.-Career:...
as Jodie - Mark MosesMark MosesMark W. Moses is an American actor, known for his roles of Paul Young on Desperate Housewives and Herman "Duck" Phillips on the AMC series Mad Men.-Life and career:...
as Doctor
Production
The film was completed and screened in 2007, but was not scheduled for a release by Paramount VantageParamount Vantage
Paramount Vantage is the specialty film division of Paramount Pictures , charged with producing, purchasing, distributing and marketing films, generally those with a more "art house" feel than films made and distributed by its parent company.Paramount Classics was launched in 1998 and...
until September 2009.
Release
Carriers was released on 4 September 2009 in US cinemas, while the DVD followed on 29 December 2009.It grossed $90.8k in US and $4,577,219 worldwide.
Reception
Carriers received positive reviews with a 61% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 31 reviews. Rob Nelson, a top critic from Variety
Variety
- Mathematics :* Abelian variety, a complex torus that can be embedded into projective space* Abstract variety, an intrinsically defined variety* Algebraic variety, the basic object of study in algebraic geometry** Affine variety, a subset of algebraic varieties...
said: "Put into extremely limited release by Paramount Vantage after spending years in studio lockdown, Carriers has moments of genuinely communicable horror and thus deserves better than a de facto theatrical quarantine". Paul Chambers from CNN Radio said: "A little more realistic than a zombie flick. Some renegade virus could make the world a "survival of the fittest" ordeal. A very interesting story with some nice reveals". Charles Cassady from Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media , commonly known as CSM, is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization which serves as a guide for parents that has reviews for most media types, including books, movies, video games, music, and websites, and rates them in terms of violence, sex, and profanity. The website...
said: "Gloom, not thrills, in sci-fi drama of worldwide plague".
External links
- Carriers at Yahoo! Movies