EXTINCTION from Netflix

Extinction Review by Movies To Watch Tonight

Netflix continues to make inroads into providing content from a wider variety of writers, producers and directors. It is wonderful to see so many independent films being supported by Netflix. One such film is Extinction, released in 2018. Director is Ben Young who movie goers might recall directed Hounds Of Love in 2016 and something Fishy in 2010, among others.

The film stars Michael Pena who plays a strong role as a father having recurring nightmares.

Opposite Pena is actor Lizzy Caplan who you might remember from the TV series Are You Sleeping and the movie The Disaster Artist in 2017.

Rounding out the principal characters are Amelia Crouch (left below) from Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) and Erica Tremblay (right below) from The Bye Bye Man (2017) Before I Fall (2017) and The Killing (2014).

The principal characters give strong acting performances throughout the presentation with Erica Tremblay a stand-out but as you will read below, the characters are not all that relatable.

Their roles are complimented by strong performances from a variety of smaller roles from such actors as Mike Colter who no doubt movie goers will know better as Luke Cage from the Netflix TV series.

Movies To Watch Tonight – Problems With Extinction

The biggest problem with the show is the slow beginning. Normally a movie lays out the characters at the start and then builds the development through the movie.

There are scenes where Peter, played by Pena continues to have nightmares and blackouts and begins to alienate himself from his family but these are never built on. His character seems oddly out of sorts with the reality of what is happening around him. Family arguments and dynamics are not built upon and supporting characters have little to no actual roles aside from a handful such as Colter’s role as David, Peter’s boss at work.

Extinction never builds strong characters but instead relies on action scenes to engage viewers, of which there are plenty.

The movie relies heavily on the aliens to keep viewers involved and at the outset there is genuine concern for the principal characters.

The aliens are of the most interest until we discover who they are and then the movie begins to fall into place but leaves viewers with a rather unsatisfying evening.

Movies To Watch Tonight Review Of Extinction

Overall the movie is worth watching as there are a number of twists which I will not give away, that make the film worth the 95 minutes. There is enough action in the film once making it through the first half hour to keep movie goers attention.