Elevation

Three years after an invasion of generic unstoppable CGI monsters, where humanity's few survivors are living at high elevation deep in the mountains, we're introduced to Will (Anthony Mackie), his son Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr.), the haunted Nina (Morena Baccarin), and the tough-talking Katie (Maddie Hasson). Needing medicine for his son, Will and the two women set off on a dangerous journey across the mountains.

While bickering over arguments both new and old (including the death of Will's wife, played by Rachel Nicks, on Nina's own suicide mission a year before), the film features the trio walking through wilderness, walking across cliffs, walking through ruined buildings, walking through underground tunnels, and when encountering the "reapers" they run for their lives. You get the idea.

For the first hour the film is largely a thriller with our protagonists running from danger while attempting to complete their quest. While hardly anything new, it works well enough, even if the reapers are far from the most interesting monsters. A twist in the final 20 minutes of the film leads to huge shift which either needed to happen far earlier in the film or the film needed another half-hour to properly explore its ramifications. As it is, Elevation ends in an extended epilogue of mostly montage denying the film, or its characters, a true emotional payoff.

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• Title: Elevation
• IMDb: link