4: Abel Ferrara’s 4:44 Last Day on Earth
Abel Ferrara’s little seen apocalyptic gem from 2011 is a powerful film. While many of its doomsday brethren throw half their budgets into a CG disaster fest Ferrara chooses to let the oncoming doom apply pressure slowly to the last 24 hours of existence. There is an eerie sense of calm running throughout the film which walks between collective denial and nonchalant acceptance of the inevitability of it all – indeed we never really know the circumstances, nor exactly what happens at the titular time.
Willem Dafoe leads us through this last day with his on-screen lover Shanyn Leigh and we roll and duck with them through the quietly hysterical nature of what is going on around them. They chat on skype with their friends and family, argue, make up, have sex, watch suicides from their rooftop and visit old friends. It is gut-wrenching, and unlike David MacKenzie’s Perfect Sense, out the same year, there is no slow death of the world; the film ends the moment the world does. Haunting and well worth seeking out.
