Gold movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Gold

This gritty survival drama opens exclusively on March 11, 2022

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 37 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Back in 2021, studios got into a bidding war over distribution rights for this visceral film. Screen Media Films won. It’s a story about when two men who discover the biggest gold nugget ever found. They must find a way to excavate it and the dream of immense wealth and greed takes hold. They hatch a plan to protect and excavate their bounty with one man leaving to secure the necessary equipment. The other man remains and must endure harsh desert elements, ravenous wild dogs, and mysterious intruders, whilst battling the sinking suspicion that he has been abandoned to his own fate.

The film was directed by Anthony Hayes, who also stars in the film. He co-wrote the screenplay with Polly Smyth.

THINGS I LIKED:

We have NEVER seen the handsome Zac Efron in anything like this before! I kept picturing Shia Labeouf in this role, but I thought Zac did an outstanding job. He’s not quite Tom Hanks in Cast Away I loved that movie because he was so compelling but also because it had an immense heart in its storytelling. To contrast, this movie is raw and simplified.
The filming conditions were extremely harsh and almost shut down filming. Most of the brutal sandstorms seen in the movie were actual sandstorms. Finally, the crew figured out they could strap a camera onto one of the cinematographer’s backs to get the shots they wanted for certain scenes. The movie was shot in the Australian outback during Covid. Nowhere in the movie does it tell you the characters are actually in Australia, but I did notice that the steering wheel in the truck they drive is on the right side of the car. Most of the characters speak with an American accent. Fun fact: Zac Efron sold his Los Angeles home and moved to Australia.
The makeup team did an excellent job. That’s probably the one aspect of this movie that gets mentioned the most in reviews!
So many flies! You could tell the actors were really out there in the wild dealing with the savage elements.
There isn’t very much dialogue, which gives you a chance to sink into the unforgiving environment and imagine how you would handle trying to survive in such bleak conditions.
The song’s lyrics at the end of the movie are so cynical and sad. It’s a depressing look at how far greed will push people.
The final scene in the movie is the exclamation point on the statement the director was trying to make about greed. Message received!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It’s a very slow burn. A lot of people will tire of waiting for “something to happen.”
We don’t really know enough about either one of the two main characters to truly root for one or the other. In fact, Zac Efron’s character is named “Man One” and Anthony Hayes’ character is “Man Two.” Without real names or backstories, we can easily see how they represent mankind in general.
This is definitely not one of those “feel-good movies.” There is a strong pessimistic message that reminds you of the dark side of the natural man.