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The Philosophers

R Released Feb 7, 2014 1h 47m Mystery & Thriller Action Fantasy Drama List
67% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A philosophy teacher (James D'Arcy) tells his students that they must choose 10 people from among their group to take shelter during a nuclear holocaust and reboot the human race.
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The Philosophers

Critics Reviews

View All (15) Critics Reviews
Phuong Le Guardian John Huddles's sci-fi thriller unintentionally succeeds in replicating the exact experience of playing "would you rather?" with a friend in a pub, as in it starts out with vague philosophical questions but ends up being utterly ridiculous. Rated: 2/5 May 20, 2021 Full Review Nicolas Rapold New York Times Both smugly clever and at times distastefully clueless. Feb 6, 2014 Full Review Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times An unusually creative and ambitious film of ideas that offers so much more than its forgettable title and sensationalized publicity may imply. Feb 6, 2014 Full Review Frank Ochieng SF Crowsnest Refreshingly, Dark wants to cryptically convey an honest conversation about the fate of mankind's fragile existence. Despite some questionable unevenness, a contemplative SF thriller that dares to assume its thinking cap in surrealistic experimental mode Rated: 2.5/4 Nov 11, 2018 Full Review Wesley Lovell Cinema Sight A heavy-handed and manipulative work of philosophical fiction featuring strong performances, but a troubled narrative. Rated: 3/4 Mar 15, 2014 Full Review Nikola Grozdanovic The Playlist Philosophical thriller After The Dark collapses under a nifty concept. Rated: D Feb 8, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (259) audience reviews
Cinephemeride [ a falsely philosophical film whose initially ambitious scenario ultimately ends up tiring us with endless dialogue scenes Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/08/23 Full Review Joshua M After the Dark as it is called on netflix is an impressively smug and pseudo-intellectual piece of film making wrapped in a grade 11 intro to philosophy level of meaning and allegories. Acting was wooden for some and the writing and directing did not help the matter. With some dialogue and scenes making me wonder why it wasn't left on editing floor. It's "twist" was as subtle as a cannon. Interesting in concept. Poor in execution. Still at times the film was pretty to look at. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 09/18/23 Full Review kelly f A fun movie for me personally when I saw the write-up because I went to Jakarta International (now Intercultural) School for 3 years AND while in grade 7 there, was my first big, multi-day thought experiment. It was a prevent WW III scenario and each student took the role of a country. I will say, I never, ever was in or saw any class at JIS that was as White as this one. This was a fun and smart movie, unfortunately for this kind of film to hit, it cannot be inconsistent. There were two big inconsistencies in the final scenario that disappointed me. 1. The James character was supposed to be gay, but somehow in the final scenario he just decided to drop that. 2. The girl who was the soldier with the eidetic memory, uses her skill from the previous scenario, to memorise something to use in the next. Each scene/attempt is a self-contained universe, an action in one cannot be brought over to another. Other than that, it was fun. Loved seeing Jakarta on screen and the memories of the architecture, the gamelan music in the background! and classrooms of well-travelled, over-achieving kids from all over the world! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Teenager bullshit. The movie does not even make any sense. Why the hell should a philosophy professor make the whole class hate him without any plausible reason? Personal revenge? Show everyone the main character is dumb? That's stupid. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member I understand and agree with some of the criticism about the movie, but overall I found it very different and thought-provoking. I found the film entertaining and believe many who did not, try to think too much about what makes sense and doesn't. Remember this is not a documentary of factual events, but a cinematic endeavor showcasing aspects of the human condition. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Weirdly enjoyable. For a movie that is 1h 47min, it seems like 4 hours. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Philosophers

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Cast & Crew

Life on the Line 0% 36% Life on the Line TRAILER for Life on the Line Snowpiercer 94% 72% Snowpiercer Justice 28% 39% Justice Project Power 61% 46% Project Power TRAILER for Project Power 14 Blades 69% 52% 14 Blades Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A philosophy teacher (James D'Arcy) tells his students that they must choose 10 people from among their group to take shelter during a nuclear holocaust and reboot the human race.
Director
John Huddles
Producer
John Huddles, George Zakk, Cybill Lui
Screenwriter
John Huddles
Distributor
Phase 4 Films
Production Co
An Olive Branch Productions
Rating
R (Sexuality|Brief Drug Use|Some Violence)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Action, Fantasy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 7, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 7, 2014
Runtime
1h 47m
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