Waste of time

Best movie ever!

Blistering performances.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

First off I haven't seen any reviews that mentioned this, but Young Ones was not at all what I expected. I expected this movie to be a dystopian Sci-Fi action movie about tough times in the future, which is actually all kind in the background. This turned out to be for the better.I don't know where the movie was shot, but the visuals were stunning. Everything is desert, rocks, and old buildings (or a house made of ship containers). There's a scene where you do see plants, and the colors are so vivid. Additionally, I very much enjoyed the slow-burn revenge tone of the movie. The movie pacing wasn't slow, but the build up of pain and anger felt so real that I felt as frustrated as Jerome (who I didn't know was the main character until like halfway through the movie). There were some weird plot points that never get resolved, like the fact that there's a perfectly good city nearby where everything seems normal and you don't know why these characters aren't allowed through the gates. Also, that random girl that Jerome meets and kinda likes, but never ends up seeing again? Kinda odd. Also I don't like Elle Fanning after seeing this movie, she just doesn't seem to fit...Overall I enjoyed this movie. It was entertaining to watch, kept my attention throughout, and made me feel for the characters. The oddities in the plot were minor and had little impact on my rating. Watch this movie.

I didn't check the budget of this movie but it feels like a low budget production in many ways.First of all the characters are roughly cut and stereotypes, you don't find real inner conflicts in them, Flem could have had good intentions to a degree, but he was just selfish - that is to simple for a drama.Second the long chapters don't make much sense, it's just confusing. Finishing a chapter with the death of it's subject is not smart. No flashbacks, no learnings in the later chapters about Ernest or the past for example.The setup was perfect for a Rashomon style drama, by simply NOT letting the audience know every detail all the time. Wasted chance.The whole movie was to long for the story. The slow pacing and the lack of anything happening over long periods (nothing of substance at least) makes it tiresome.The automatic mule robot (Big Dog or LS3 Pack Mule) did not add much to the sci fi feeling - it was developed around 2009 or even earlier. If this movie is supposed to take place in the near future (like some 20-50 years) such a machine would be long gone and replaced by better systems. Some primitive drones and stuff do not convince me, too. A little bit more attention to the details would have been nice. Even poor settlers would use something better than an 80s style transistor radio.The border situation was awkward. I wonder how the patrols walking on stilts would defend against the mob pushing them over... the available fences and guard's walkways would allow much better control. Just silly.I watched the German translation and the dub voices were terrible. They sounded like some people from the street had been asked to dub the movie during their lunch brake.All in all the story was too simple, too often seen and the rest of the movie didn't save the day.I don't consider it a waste of time but would expect something more imaginative or original these days. It would make a solid first movie for a director starting his career right after film school.

There's a tone in the Young One's that even though I can't put my finger on, it feels very familiar, almost a languid natural ease. The story is compelling, so much so, that almost a year after seeing it, I reflect on the bright light of the desert and still hear the soundtrack. There were movies with this light made in the 70's, panoramic, larger then life, but full of individual stories. Without even delving into the true nature of the accurate rendering of future issues regarding the environment, and natural resources, this is a story about justice and metering that out in the harsh climate of a shaken world.

This is a good movie. It looks good. It's interesting. It has a decent plot. It also has a few well defined characters, one of which is Ernest Holm, the father of two teenage children and the owner of a barren stretch of farm land turned desert. Holm is played by Michael Shannon in convincing fashion. He is determined without being unscrupulous. He is flawed yet humble enough to know it. He has convictions. He loves his family. This film reminded me of There Will Be Blood. The Daniel Day-Lewis movie is, of course, superior to this one although there is a similar perspective of harsh land and desperate men whose fates lie in their ability to coax wealth from it. The other major difference its that this is set in the near future and has the conceivable technological improvisations of a world where water has become the most rare commodity. All in all a pretty good movie well deserving of a much higher rating than it currently averages.