Review: Survivalist drama ‘Here Alone’ swaps adventure for less satisfying touchy-feelies

In the opening sequence of the post-apocalyptic drama “Here Alone,” a wiry young woman named Ann (Lucy Walters) goes about an ordinary day of smearing her body with muck and saving her urine as a disinfectant. For a few minutes, director-producer Rod Blackhurst and writer-producer David Ebeltoft seem poised to deliver a lean, grubby survivalist picture set in a world where humans dodge ravenous, mindless cannibals.

Then the movie jumps back in time to show how Ann and her husband, Jason (Shane West), protected their infant daughter while navigating the early days of the catastrophe. “Here Alone” follows parallel plots, covering both the events in the past that left Ann by herself in the woods, and scenes in the present day where she teaches what she’s learned to an injured man and his stepdaughter (played by Adam David Thompson and Gina Piersanti).

As a wilderness adventure, “Here Alone” is frequently superb. The parts where Ann fights savagely against the bloodthirsty hordes then returns to take care of her baby are particularly poignant.

But the overworked structure minimizes genre kicks, opting instead for blandly touchy-feely business involving Ann’s emotional journey. “Here Alone” builds to a revelation about why the heroine prefers to be a loner, which is ultimately too paltry a story to tell. This is the first act of a better movie, stretched to fill a feature.

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‘Here Alone’

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Royal, West L.A.

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