Joey Curtis and Paul Sidhu's sci-fi time-waster 2307: WINTER'S DREAM opens in theaters

Unless your movie is a documentary, it's probably not a smart marketing move to place a punctuation mark such as a colon in your title. If only that were the biggest problem for 2307: WINTER'S DREAM, but, no, there are plenty of others. Considering that this film won half a dozen sci-fi film festival awards, TrustMovies can only surmise that the past couple of years have have been dismal ones for the sci-fi genre. Either that -- or there is something I just didn't get about this utterly derivative and tiresome would-be sci-fi thriller/action/dystopian-future film.

As written and directed by Joey Curtis, shown at right, the film takes place in that titular year of 2307, when it seems that earth has turned into a complete snowscape -- a la Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer, but without a lick of that terrific film's class or entertainment value -- and is peopled by humans and replicants (as la Blade Runner, but without a lick of... you know the routine) who are at war with each other. Our stalwart and dull-as-dishwater hero, played by Paul Sidhu, below, who also wrote the story on which the film is based, is given the assignment of tracking down and killing a replicant who has murdered our hero's pregnant wife, cut the baby out of her belly and absconded with it. Um-hum. Yeah.

The cast of characters includes the usual suspects -- a bunch of tough-talking uber-violent would-be warriors who do an awful lot of stupid things and mouth some of the worst dialog I've hear all year, maybe several. Samples: the answer to one guy's question about why procrastination is like masturbation, or the oh-so-stern commander (below, right), who, after his lengthy speech about why our villain replicant is to be so greatly feared, adds, "P.S: He's lethal."

The action sequences, too, are, to put it mildly, not so hot. Around 20 minutes in, the supposed good guys come upon a distant figure in the snow and do literally everything wrong. Tons of very clunky exposition via the narration does not help a lot, either.

The film does appear to have had a fairly high budget for a small indie movie; even so, the supposedly extreme cold is not in the least believably captured. The poster above shows icicles and frost on the beard. The movie doesn't even manage that much.

If you last it out, you'll be treated to a -- once again -- highly derivative "surprise" twist toward the finale, to which you will probably mutter, "Gee, I haven't see something like that in a movie in at least a week."

In any case, 2307: Winter's Dream opens this Friday, at various theaters, at least some of which are shown here: AMC Jersey Gardens, Elizabeth NJ; AMC Orange 30, Orange, CA; AMC South Barrington, IL; AMC Rio, Gaithersburg, MD; AMC Arizona Center, Phoenix, AZ; AMC Southfield Southfield, MI; AMC Veterans Expressway, Tampa, FL; AMC Apple Valley, MN; AMC Pompano Beach, FL; AMC Solon Cinema, Solon, OH.

Trey Edward Shults' IT COMES AT NIGHT -- Atmosphere: 10. Characters, pacing, story: 3

As sloppily silent as his earlier Thanksgiving-family-trauma movie, Krisha, was sloppily talkative, the new would-be horror movie from the hailed-as-a-wunderkind Trey Edward Shults (shown below) turns out to be one of the most disappointing entries into the apocalyptic, end-of-civilization genre TrustMovies has yet seen. Derivative, tiresome, repetitive and paced like molasses-on-ice, the film's worst sin is to trap us with a sextet of characters for 97 minutes and yet provide none of these protagonists with any real character. They're frightened, and they're distrusting, and that's about it. IT COMES AT NIGHT turns out to be as clichéd as its silly title, the "it" of which comes, well, just about anytime at all. But, hey, darkness (including via cinematography) can cover a multitude of sins, don'cha know?

This movie is actually so bad -- super high on atmosphere and dread but super low on any of the specifics and details that might give credence and meaning to its poorly conceived plot -- that I think it is practically spoiler-proof. I will still honor the element of surprise, however, and keep my mouth shut (and fingers tied down) so as not to ruin what little there is here. It is safe to say that some kind of non-specific plague has evidently decimated humanity, but one family has persisted out in the wilds, though as the film opens we see that poor Gramps is a goner, leaving mom, dad and son alive and presumably well. Soon a would-be break-in via an intruder leads to another mom, dad and son joining the little group.

So far, so-so, with nagging little questions regarding what possible good those silly gas masks can do (perhaps the infected let out some nasty farts?) and exactly how long it takes for symptoms to show up (somebody mentions their being fast-acting, but, hmmmmm...).

Not that any of this matters, for soon we're being treated to the requisite gooey/scary special effects (above and below), which of course come via the also requisite nightmares -- which are required because, otherwise, there would be no special effects to speak of at all, and our current idiot audiences absolutely demand these. But I digress.

I do question the need for such a first-rate cast -- Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo and Riley Keough, with an especially promising young actor, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., (at right in the penultimate photo) as the older of the two sons -- since no character trait whatsoever (other than being scared) has been provided them by the filmmaker.

Yes, the movie flirts with themes of trust and betrayal, the wisdom of helping others, family comes first, and that the horror may actually come from within. But it is all flirting -- with no real depth, let alone consummation.

So on we go. Until we don't. In its way, this is the perfect film for our Trumpian times: The situation is dire, and there's no hope.

Finally little other than a load of been-there/done-that crap, the movie is more than mere disappointment: It's a harbinger of our critical establishment's increasing placement of atmosphere above intelligent movie storytelling. If you are looking for a truly interesting, surprising, unusual and oddly fulfilling end-of-time/apocalypse film, I suggest that you watch The Girl With All the Gifts, available now on streaming and DVD.

Meanwhile, from A24 and running a snail-paced 97 minutes, It Comes at Night opens nationwide this Friday, June 9. To find the theaters near you, simply click here.