Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: In “The Well,” a new dystopian drama now playing in theatres, survivors of an environmental collapse come into conflict over natural recourses, including a hidden supply of fresh water. “To drink from the waters of oblivion,” days Gabriel (Sheila McCarthy, “is to loose the ties of the past.”

CAST: Shailyn Pierre-Dixon, Joanne Boland, Arnold Pinnock, Sheila McCarthy, Idrissa Sanogo. Directed by Hubert Davis.

REVIEW: Although set in the future, “The Well” resonates with timely themes of ecological disaster, isolationism and polarization.

Set in a world where water is like liquid gold, “The Well” takes place post-apocalypse, with most of the world’s H₂O supply infected with a deadly virus. Into this grim situation come Elisha (Joanne Boland), Paul (Arnold Pinnock) and daughter Sarah (Shailyn Pierre-Dixon), a tight family unit living in an isolated home with access to a safe supply of water.

Things are good until Jamie (Idrissa Sanogo), a young man who claims to be a long-lost family member, turns up bringing with him misgivings that infects the family as they decide whether he is to be trusted or not.

When the family well, their sole source of clean water, develops a crack in its filter, Sarah and Jamie are sent off in search of a replacement which leads them to a cult compound run by Gabriel (Sheila McCarthy).

“The Well” uses the backdrop of a poisoned water supply to study ethical dilemmas and what happens when trust, even inside one’s family, is a rare commodity.

Director Hubert Davis, working from a screenplay by Michael Capellupo and Kathleen Hepburn, looks to low key dystopian films like “The Road” and “The Quiet Earth” for inspiration rather than high-octane spectacles like “The Hunger Games” or the “Mad Max” films. “The Well” is an intimate film, focusing on the characters and their interactions in a troubled world with new societal rules.

Key to the success of the film is Pierre-Dixon. It is Sarah’s coming-of-age story, coupled with her instinct for survival, that propels the action. Pierre-Dixon finds a balance between the character’s disillusionment with the world and her desire to do the right thing. That internal battle gives the Sarah emotional weight that brings with it a great deal of poignancy.

“The Well” doesn’t tread much new ground in terms of dystopian storytelling, but does create compelling characters, like Sarah and Sheila McCarthy’s menacing survivalist, while shining a light on the human side of a societal breakdown.