David Michod is slowly becoming one of my favorite directors working today. After the absolutely brilliant Animal Kingdom, he returns with a much quieter but still powerful film about keeping ahold of humanity in the face of despair. The post-apocalyptic landscape that Michod paints is understated, unlike a similar film, 2009’s The Road, and this allows for our two leads to show us what they got. Both Guy Pierce and Robert Pattinson are electrifying, but especially Pattinson, who is now freed from the grasps of the Twilight series to flex his formidable acting muscles. It’s a downer, sure, but there is a lot to love within the frame of this picture.