‘The Well’ review: Muted Canadian eco-thriller finds humanity on the brink of collapse

Dir: Hubert Davis. Canada. 2024. 91mins.

A post-apocalyptic saga charting the human impact of environmental collapse, scarce resources and the breakdown of communities, The Well marks a move into narrative fiction for Canadian filmmaker Hubert Davis following documentaries including Oscar-nominated short Hardwood (2005). Closer to John Hillcoat’s The Road than Mad Max on the dystopian drama scale, The Well’s sombre story and slowburn pace create a muted offering. Vortex Media will release in Canada following a world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival.

A familiar but convincing depiction of a planet in distress

Davis’s best-known documentary work, such as Giants Of Africa (2016) and Toronto People’s Choice winner Black Ice (2022), has been marked by a keen social conscience, addressing issues such as racism, injustice and inequality, and similar concerns run below the surface of The Well. The feature is set in a near future where a waterborne virus has decimated the population. Survivors are split into those contained within heavily guarded refugee camps and those in small, scattered communities. (Davis makes a savvy, budget-conscious decision to depict the catastrophe through a succession of watery blue images and a soundtrack of news bulletins and global reports.)

Sarah (Shailyn Pierre-Dixon) lives with her parents Elisha (Joanne Boland) and Paul (Arnold Pinnock) in a forest close to a secret underground well that is miraculously untainted and remains a precious source of clean water. (An exact location is never specified, but the film shot in Hamilton, Canada.) The family has suffered its own loss and the film is threaded with flashbacks to happier times. A powerful need to protect Sarah from harm leads her parents to isolate themselves; the property is surrounded by warning bells, trip wires and animal traps.

One such device snares Jamie (Idrissa Sanogo), a young man seeking sanctuary who appears to be Paul’s missing nephew. Elisha and Paul remain wary of the newcomer but Sarah is drawn to him. When the underground well is compromised, Sarah leaves with Jamie in search of the equipment that would allow them to repair it. Paul feels compelled to pursue them.

Davis and cinematographer Stuart James Cameron ground the film in a familiar but convincing depiction of a planet in distress. Images of gnarled trees, rusted factories and dry rivers point to a bleak future, while autumnal forest paths covered in leaves and plants seem to suggest nature is reclaiming a land that humanity has destroyed.

Sarah and Jamie’s quest eventually takes them to the community that he had fled. The survivors there, including Wanda (Natasha Mumba) and her newborn baby, live under the rule of older white woman Gabriel (Sheila McCarthy). McCarthy plays her as a benign presence prone to cryptic comments. “Sarah, have you managed the chaos in your heart?” she demands. McCarthy’s darting eyes and wry chuckle hint at someone more menacing, though the source of Gabriel’s authority remains a mystery.

The Well gradually intertwines the fates of the central characters. The score, from electronic cello specialist Cris Derksen, tries to generate a growing tension that the film never really delivers. Elements of the story remain elusive or unconvincing as it becomes a commentary on whether good intentions and acts of kindness have become unaffordable in a world focused on individual survival. But the finale strikes a pleasing note of hope, suggesting rebirth is still possible despite trust having become the most precious resource of all.