Rating: NR | Runtime: 117 minutes
Release Date: March 24th, 2023 (USA)
Studio: Vertical Entertainment
Director(s): Tanel Toom
Writer(s): Malachi Smyth

Why would they send us here if there’s no one out there?

It’s 2063 and the water has risen to the point where only two small continents of land remain. It doesn’t matter what countries that land came from or whose people hold control—two entities separated under a cloak of mystery will always possess animosity towards and fear of the other. That’s the quickest and easiest way to keep people in line. Make them afraid of the unknown so they don’t have time to be afraid of that which hurts them at home.

It becomes even easier still when nuclear weaponry is involved. Because as long as one has it, they will forever wonder if the other does too. And discovering they don’t will never be the end of the fight since it would only mean you have to remain extra vigilant to ensure they don’t take yours. Survival becomes secondary to annihilation. Nothing is out of bounds.

Therein lies the premise behind director Tanel Toom and screenwriter Malachi Smyth’s Last Sentinel. Hendrichs (Thomas Kretschmann) and his team of volunteers (Kate Bosworth’s Cassidy, Lucien Laviscount’s Sullivan, and Martin McCann’s Baines) have spent the last two years at a strategically placed outpost housing the last nuclear bomb on Earth. With apocalyptic storms constantly brewing on the open sea, there’s no way for their enemy to reach their homeland without first passing their station.

So, they wait and watch, doing their job until they eventually go home. Except this shift ended three months ago and still no one has come in relief. So, they wait, watch, and grow restless. They let doubt and paranoia rule their actions until an abandoned ship presents the possibility of escape. Do they go and find out what went wrong? Or do they stay and defend a homeland that might already be gone?

It’s a familiar powder-keg of a suspense thriller with the threat of outside forces looming and the more pressing intrigue of changing tides inside giving pause to remember the biggest danger almost always comes from within. Can Hendrichs’ unwavering fealty to the job let him see the opportunity that’s been presented clearly or will he continue putting the mission over his people’s lives?

Does the obvious romantic relationship that’s blossomed between Cassidy and Sullivan cause them to hesitate and/or sacrifice the bigger picture for personal happiness? How about Baines’ increasing hostility and stir-crazy nature making them all have to look over their shoulder? There are as many straightforward possibilities to derail what could be their only way out as there are conspiratorial theories once everyone steps back and surveys the situation. Because after forty years of silence, all they have are assumptions and orders.

And while the inevitable identification of an enemy force pulling strings isn’t surprising, it’s okay because that’s not Toom and Smyth’s intent. Whereas you might assume this low budget Estonian production would devolve into an “us versus them” mentality ripe for fireworks, the script refuses to deviate from its anti-war wake-up call approach.

As many discussions on-board explain, the only difference between sides is their target. Both want to live. Both are afraid. Both are raised to hate. Why? Because it’s beneficial to those in power. If they rule as “protectors”, their citizens will give them loyalty and die for the cause. The only real potential for a ceasefire is if those citizens finally become loyal to themselves. To humanity. It may be an overly sentimental and hopeful message, but I believe it works. If nothing else, it was nice to pretend hearts and minds might still change.

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Lucien Laviscount and Kate Bosworth in THE LAST SENTINEL; courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.