If you’re used to post-apocalyptic films packed with explosions, zombies, and nonstop chaos, Finch (2021) will kinda surprise you. This one is not about fighting strange creatures or overthrowing evil governments or corporations. Instead, it’s a calm, emotional journey(heavy on the emotional) about a man, his robot, and his dog… basically the kind of film that sneaks up on you and makes you think about life and companionship. It’s the kind of “end of the world” story that feels strangely personal. The movie opens with Finch, played by Tom Hanks(the first survival movie I watched about tom hanks was castaway), moving around a destroyed St. Louis. Everywhere is dry, dusty, and abandoned like a desert. Finch wears a protective suit, that protects him from the sun because in this movie the ozone layer is completely depleted. While scavenging for food, and one early scene really stands out, he enters an abandoned supermarket, shelves scattered like an amazon warehouse after Black Friday, and sunlight pours through broken windows. It’s quiet, eerie, and somehow beautiful. There are no monsters chasing him, but the environment itself is the enemy. Hot sun, radiation, and unpredictable wild storms make the world feel hostile enough.
Tom Hanks carries the film with the kind of emotional performance we’ve come to expect from him, ever since the movie castaway. Even though he’s basically acting alone for most of the movie, he fills the screen with some sense of humor, worry, frustration, and tenderness especially towards his dog. His interactions with Jeff, the robot he builds to take care of his dog Goodyear, feel almost like watching an African parent raising their last born correcting, teaching, and constantly monitoring. You can see it in the small moments, the way he explains rules to Jeff, the way he sighs when Jeff misunderstands something, and the gentle patience he shows during bedtime story scenes. Jeff, the robot himself is one of the highlights of the film. At the beginning, the robot behaves like a confused child, learning to walk, falling down, and asking thousands of questions the way Nigerian kids ask “why?” every five seconds. There’s a hilarious scene where Jeff insists on learning how to drive the RV. Finch is panicking like an uncle sitting beside a new learner on Lagos roads, the RV is swerving anyhow, and Goodyear the dog is at the back looking like, “God Please!” It’s chaotic, funny, and surprisingly heartwarming.
As the story progresses, Jeff starts understanding more about Finch, about Goodyear, and about the responsibility placed on him, because Finch is actually slowly dying and jeff will have to take care of the dog after he is gone. The growth feels natural, almost like watching a child mature and of course the emotional tone of the movie is in the fact that Finch knows his time is limited, and everything he does is to make sure Jeff can take care of the dog when he’s gone. At its core, Finch is a film about humanity, loyalty, and the desire to leave something good behind. It’s not loud, it’s not fast, and it’s not the typical Hollywood apocalypse with noise and chaos everywhere. It’s gentle and emotional and yeah of course some viewers might find the pacing slow, but if you love character-driven stories, this film will sit well with you.
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED I'D GIVE IT A 7.5/10
ALL IMAGES WERE SOURCED FROM PINTEREST
