5/1/19 - The Domestics (2018) - 3+/4-/10

This is a pretty lackluster DIY posta-apocalyptic American travel piece. We have seen this type of story done before and done oh-so-much better, but it is decently watchable and has a couple world building tricks up its sleeve. Nothing to go out of your way to see, but you won’t despise your viewing adventure should you undertake it.

The story is an ups and downs roller-coaster. We get a unique but weird set-up for why America is the way that it is, that isn’t well explained, but I was interested. Unfortunately, it plays no role after that, nor does there seem to be any reason for it other than to drop us into this world. Ok. Fine. But then we get this weak story of an estranged husband searching for his wife in his rebuilt car (cars and car stuff come up over and over in this film, I guess to give it some character, but God, did I not care or want). At least, that is how we are introduced but they are together from the very next step. Pretty standard get from point A to point B against all odds and find themselves and each other along the way blah blah blah…

A couple big things bothered me here: 1. Apparently this is a story of the female protagonist finding herself/her agency, but we are already deep into a world of dog-eat-dog, roving murder gangs lifestyle. You have to take care of yourself or you don’t make it, but she is woefully inept. To the point it seems that she won’t shoot, can’t shoot, and will even travel in a constantly dangerous world with headphones on to “drown out the violence”. WTF?! She deserves to be dead here. Eventually, she tries a different gun, gets really good out of nowhere, and become a murdering bad-ass, taking on the whole world, but there is no real story being told here. She isn’t overcoming past trauma, she isn’t defying some moral imperative, she isn’t regurgitating some deeply buried inner Bronson. Nope. She just flicks a switch and without any effort or drama, becomes a walking corpse creator. That was poor storytelling.

2: The rape and subjugation of women in p-a fiction is a consistent trope. I get that and I see the truth inherent within its creation and use. That said, I just got the creeps in this one. Something felt unearned here, and the constant use of savagely leering speech, dog collars, rape basements, tracking devices, and unceasing “murder for rape-ability” living grated on me. They tried to combat that somewhat with the Warriors-esque “Cherries” (man killing Lizzies analogue), but there is an unbelievable dichotomy drawn here between women to kidnap for sex/women who live normally and have no issues. Within the larger gang structures there are plenty of women that function alongside their rapey counterparts without incident. There also appear to be plenty of women who are “safe” for no reason, but that is more a symptom of their non-holistic world-building, which tended to be all over the place depending on what they needed for the scene/plot.

Sure, I had issues and this film wasn’t great, but it did have some fun, though flawed, world-construction. Like the Warriors mentioned before, roving gangs have divvied up the Midwest and fight each other for domination. These different groupings, design, and personalities were kind of fun and provided something to latch onto. The Midwestern flair attributed to them was also enjoyable (not sure how much The Plowboys or taxidermied animal headed Gamblers would translate to other parts of the country). Especially with the expository morning DJ vehicle, some of the concepts and creations of the filmmakers were fun. Inconsistent, but enjoyable.

All together, a disappointing effort. Some clunky acting, a thought out world but half baked story, and hints of character that are easily shot down with any brief examination. The world has ended, so there are worse ways to spend your time, but the only “mad” Max you might find here is an angry viewer dissatisfied with motivation and dialogue.