Carriers is a 2009 post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Alex and David Pastor, starring Chris Pine, Lou Taylor Pucci, Piper Perabo, and Emily VanCamp. The film follows four survivors of a viral pandemic attempting to avoid the looming threat of becoming infected.

We’ve seen pandemic movies before, some done better, some done worse. The story follows Brian and his girlfriend, Bobby, his brother Danny with his friend Kate, as they make their way to a beach to escape a plague that’s killing people. First, it’s a decent story that doesn’t seek to be this all inspiring horror or action feeling. Not like the traditional zombie flick, the film more focuses on the internal conflicts between the main characters while they deal with other survivors, the elements, and dwindling supplies. I can say I was thoroughly entertained by the movie but I felt a lacking sense of urgency. There’s something of a climax but the emotional impact was sorely lacking. However, the story is entertaining enough. (3 out of 5)

Let’s just be honest, the characters in this movie are freaking stupid and probably some of the worst characters I’ve ever seen. Almost every scene was bogged down by dumb characters making dumbass decisions. And not only were they dumb, but they were assholes, too. Brian was a total douchebag, Bobby was a fucking idiot, Danny was a pussy, and Kate was just there. I felt more connected to survivors Frank and his daughter Jodie and honestly would’ve liked the movie to have focused more on them. Hell, I would’ve liked to have seen the armed survivalists. But unfortunately, we have a group of people who, maybe with the exception of Kate, are just dumbasses and you wonder how they’ve even survived as long as they have. (2 out of 5)

Now, despite the atrocious characters the performances were actually good with the main cast consisting of Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Emily VanCamp. I’m a fan of Pine (Hell or High Water, Wonder Woman, Star Trek) and VanCamp (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Revenge) so I wasn’t disappointed watching them. I thought the group had decent chemistry onscreen. I really enjoyed watching Christopher Meloni in his small part of a fellow survivor trying to protect his daughter. (3 out of 5)

Visually, the movie looks really good with some great cinematography by Benoit Debie. He definitely has an eye for capturing the beautiful landscape. Despite the dreary world where this plague is killing people, you wouldn’t know it from the beautiful wideshots of the ocean, and the sunsets, and the fields. It’s just a beautiful looking movie all around. The signs of infection and diseased look good and those ravaged by it, completely gross. (4 out of 5)

For the most part, I enjoyed the music. It was subtle and gave a little weight to the story. Peter Nashel and Brick Garner did a decent job. (3 out of 5)

In terms of direction, I’m not really sure what Alex and David Pastor were trying to tell. I get the bit that in such a situation a lot of times it’s human behavior that’s almost as worse as the plague itself. To that end, I think they did a great job. But I left the film wondering what was the point? Were we just here to watch these characters try to survive? Was this a bit of a slice-of-life in a plague ridden apocalypse?

There are some elements of the writing that simply don’t work and a lot of it has to do with the characters themselves. There’s a scene where Brian and Danny are having this really intense, emotional moment and you don’t give a shit. The characters were so poorly written that you pray that whatever plague has ravaged the world consumes them as well.

There are also some instances where there are attempts to create tension that don’t work. There’s a scene where the group are traveling in Frank’s van (with Frank and Jodie in the back) and Jodie starts hitting on Brian while he’s driving and nearly sends them off the road. Why was that put into the script? It was a useless tense moment to help break the slowness of the story. One that would’ve worked better would’ve been the main characters encountering the same survivors that they witnessed murder a man. I didn’t like how the movie cut from the scene without showing something. The writing and direction is decent, but could’ve been better. (2 out of 5)

In the end, Carriers is one of those movies that’s worth a watch but you probably won’t watch it again. Some things I didn’t like were the lackluster characters, the writing surrounding some of their decisions, and how unoriginal the story is. However, the cinematography is definitely good, the music is decent, and the performances are good. Carriers gets 3 out of 5.