Greenland

Remember that vague sense of panic back in March when all the shops almost ran out of toilet paper and chocolate? That feeling in the air that reaching for a 9 pack of Andrex could get you punched in the face. Now imagine the terror you'd feel in Tesco if there was a planet killing asteroid heading towards Earth. There you have it, that's what watching Greenland will do to you.

The Gerrity's have been having a shitty time of it lately. Marriage troubles forced John (Gerard Butler) and Allison (Morena Baccarin) apart but they're trying to reconcile for the sake of their young son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd). To make things feel some bit normal they've decided to host a party for their neighbours where they'll gather and watch the skies for the passing of a comet called Clarke, an event news agencies have been hyping up to the max. The thing is though, it's not passing, it's headed right for Earth, something governments have known for years but declined to mention so as not to cause mass panic. A panic that kicks off instantly the second cities start being wiped off the map. John, a structural engineer is contacted by the government and informed his family is being transported to a shelter. There's only one problem - actually getting there. 

Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich ruined disasters movies for us. They make films that revel in the almost pornographic destruction of recognisable cities and tourist landmarks. The people inhabiting these places are a mere passing thought to them. Greenland thankfully does things different with director Ric Roman Waugh instead focusing on the people instead of the problem. He paints an intimate portrait of epic destruction. The camera stays on our leads (almost) throughout, with death and destruction only ever seen in the distance or during news reports. It keeps the story at a human level, keeps us involved and keeps the fear factor high throughout. And believe me, it does get rather nerve wracking at times. Comets aside, watching civilisation crumbling onscreen feels a lot different in a year where real life is verging on it, especially in America, at all times.

Annoyingly though, some of the stupidity that plagued other big budget CGI strewn disaster films crops up here too. Big plot points from earlier in the film become null and void as the climax draws near, one especially will make your eyes spin in their sockets and our leads get themselves out of strife with big coincidences more than once but let's be honest, to complain about stupidity in a disaster film is churlish, especially one that dares to change things up from the norm. This is a disaster film where you'll remember the smaller moments instead of the scenes of carnage. A conversation between neighbours played out mostly with hand movements, two fathers whispering in a barn, an intensely stressful night-time wander on a busy road, a crying child struggling to speak out and the little slivers of human kindness sprinkled throughout that stop the film becoming too dark. 

The smaller moments work because we've spent all our time with our 3 main characters and the cast sells the stress well. It's the done thing lately to piss on any film Butler crops up in but here he's the everyman and he's quite believable in the part. Morena Baccarin thankfully gets a lot more to do than be the wife waiting to be saved and young Roger Dale Floyd really gets put through his paces. Together the three of them work and for once you'll be invested in the human side and not just waiting for the next CGI setpiece.

Greenland is streaming online now. It's one of those films you watch expecting one thing and then 30 minutes in you realise it's actually good. A nice surprise.