Some days ago, my siblings and I got into an interesting debate about how humans are destroying Earth. The question arose: what would Earth look like if the population reduced drastically to a point that only a few humans are left. We came to the conclusion that Earth might start to heal herself and nature would begin to blossom. This discussion reminds me of a miniseries I watched some months ago.
Earth Abides (2024) is a TV miniseries, post-apocalyptic science fiction drama, based on a novel with the same title written by George R. Stewart and published in 1949. It stars Alexander Ludwig as Isherwood, Jessica Frances Dukes as Emma, Aaron Tveit, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Elyse Levesque, Luisa D'Oliveira, Kett Turton, Hilary McCormack and Jenna Berman.
This miniseries begins by introducing us to Isherwood aka Ish, a geology student, living in a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest while working on his graduate thesis. He goes unconscious for three weeks after he's bitten by a rattlesnake. He wakes up only to discover that a strange virus has killed and wiped out almost all the population of the world.
Ish begins to search for any survivor. He travels to his parents’ house in search of them but finds their corpses. He buries them and travels to Los Angeles. He meets a couple in a casino but they commit suicide before his eyes. So he decides to return to his remote cabin. On his way, he finds a dog and name it Lucky. He also picks up books on survival.
A year later, Lucky barks drawing Ish’s attention to smoke rising out from another cabin, which is a sign of survivors. Ish checks out the smoke and meets a beautiful black woman, Emma. He spends the night with her and takes her to his cabin the next day so they start living together. How will Ish and Emma survive? Will the human civilisation rise again?
My Review And Rating
I read the novel four years ago and really liked it. The adaptation into this miniseries is excellent. It brought one of my fantasies to life. I often wondered how we would survive if a few humans are left on earth. Would we be bored? I think we would survive like Isherwood, the main character of this miniseries. He basically relied on knowledge from books to survive.
The plot and storytelling are well done. Many events are narrated in the book but in the miniseries, the director picked only major events from the book and fit them in good order. Its even paced and the dialogues are rich, interesting with substance. The time jumps flow seamlessly in the storytelling.
The narrative technique is brilliant and the apocalyptic setting is well staged. The director makes vivid the plot and world building as captured in the book. Though the adaptation is not 100% perfect, its close and well done.
One flaw I noted when watching this miniseries is that the science fiction part is not fully portrayed. Viewers question the virus that wiped out most of the population. The miniseries does not tell us what this virus is or how it survives. This allowed plot holes in the storytelling. It may not be obvious for viewers who have not read the novel but I have.
The cast’s performance is good. The leads are impressive but the supporting cast are not fully developed. In the book, we read more of the supporting characters’ back stories but in this miniseries, they are kind of dumped on us.
Alexander Ludwig and Jessica Frances Duke are such good actors. They embody their characters well and their chemistry is convincing. They basically bear the weight of this miniseries with more screen time than other cast members. I love the way they worked together to raise a family in such a reality. Their first daughter is really annoying. But Ish’s statement to her son (Ish’s grandson) at the end of episode 6 is inspiring:
Men come and go, but Earth abides.
The cinematography is great. Every scene depicts apocalyptic period. Their costumes and means of survival take us back to the old times when technology is nonexistent.
Rating this movie, I will give it 7 stars out of 10 despite the plot holes and noted flaw. Its interesting and entertaining. Survival movies and series have a way of grounding us in reality sometimes and Earth Abides did just this. Its worth watching for apocalyptic and distopian lovers.
All images above are from the movie screenshots
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