The Last Seven

Introduction

It's present day in London, although it would appear that the population of 7 million inhabitants have to all intents and purposes disappeared. William (Simon Phillips) wakes up in the middle of a road fully dressed and no idea where he is. Wandering around the streets aimlessly, he eventually comes across a trio of similarly confused individuals.

Led by an Army sergeant called Jack (Tamer Hassan), fully dressed in fatigues and carrying an automatic rifle, the group have also been looking for the other inhabitants of the capital city. Suddenly realising that he can't remember anything, even his name, William decides to team up with Jack, teenager Chloe (Daisy Head) and drunken bloke in a suit Henry (John Mawson).  The rest of the group are also having trouble with their memories bar the odd intrusive disjointed flashback.

Elsewhere, but suitably nearby, another amnesic group is coming together. Army captain (but in civilian clothing this time) Robert (Sebastien Street) meets up with the clearly religious Isaac (Ronan Vibert) and Isabelle (Rita Ramnani), a young girl who seems to only speak Spanish. It isn't long before the two groups meet up and decide that safety is better in numbers.

Which could be a wise choice, because it becomes clear that there's something else in London today, and it ain't nice…

Visual

The film clearly copies/pays homage to (make your own choice here…) to 28 Days Later at the start and this is clearly deliberate in order to throw the viewer off the scent of what the film is really about.

Some really nice overhead tracking shots of London contrasted with the almost claustrophobic feel of deserted back streets.

Extras

Only really a trailer and a Making Of that you really need to avoid prior to watching to the main feature as it gives the whole thing away, although in fairness it doesn't take too long before most people should get to understand what's going on.

Overall

The Last Seven is a nice attempt at a low budget action film with a difference, sadly there isn't really a difference and the pay off/reveal doesn't really work as well as it should as it becomes obvious with the very first death what is going on. This is due to the rather incessant and annoying use of flashbacks, most of which are the same but then eventually expand a little and some that just appear from nowhere. A little more restraint and it could've been a lot more effective than it was.

You'll notice above that the plot I've outlined doesn't include Danny Dyer. There's a reason for that and it's not because I'm not a fan of the blokey actor either. He is in here but it's both a pivotal and incidental role within the film, and on the plus side he doesn't actually say anything. The rest of the acting is a quite mixed bag really, but then the players aren't really helped by the script. Tamer Hassan is quite solid as the army bloke, something he was keen to get as accurate as he could, and carries himself well but then lets himself down in his flashback by the rather unprofessional spraying of weapons fire.

The problem with The Last Seven is that it can't quite decide what kind of film it wants to be and that lets it down, especially at the end where you get to see the rather thin plot strands come together and don't quite believe some of the coincidences required to make the payoff. The ending itself is also pretty confusing, but I don't really want to talk about that as it would give the entire plot away. The beginning as well is a little confusing in that Phillips character decides to wander around the empty streets of London without looking in any shops or houses until he reaches the end of his tether with a CCTV camera and proceeds to beat up a rather cheap looking car.

This will have an audience, one that isn't particularly challenged by plot inconsistencies, but it's a decent effort that just needs more attention paying to the script next time. It could've been tighter and therefore better, shame really…