This is obviously a low budget movie but it's shot really well and the lack of a large supporting cast and CGI don't detract too much from the story. It's one of those films where the story is sometimes more about what you don't see than what is seen. Although slow to get going I enjoyed this film and given a bigger budget, the team involved in making it will definitely go on to bigger and better things.
64 Reviews
I stuck around and gave it a chance
arleighberg2 January 2020
I was not expecting such a low-budget production when I selected the movie on Amazon Prime Video, and almost turned it off after about 15 minutes. That being said, I did appreciate the filmmakers' decision to focus on the main character's experiences and no "fluff" which would have been beyond budget. Chaotic events were handled by sounds rather than a bunch of extras, but the few times this technique was used I was expecting to see SOMETHING. A few scenes with lack of visuals did make them feel very low budget. They ended up being a reminder of this and did detract a bit from the film's flow. The rural setting lent itself perfectly to minimizing the need for unnecessary human contact and I found it completely believable; the filmmakers clearly borrowed from The Walking Dead's clever use of isolated sections of rural spaces to film a lot of scenes without much cost or chance of interruption. The father-daughter flashbacks were also very well used and demonstrated a realistic aspect of preparedness without delving into fanatical behavior. Naimh was given just enough pre-event training and assistance to help her when she needed it.
Film length was just about right, with the post-event day count helping break it into manageable chunks. Character development was almost non-existent other than the lead. It would have been nice to get a better sense of Will and maybe even the creepy guys.
The best low-budget films are the ones that allow the viewer to enjoy the story and forget/not realize they are missing anything. EMP: 333 Days nearly pulls that off. Wonderful acting from the young Ms. Ferreri in the lead role.
Film length was just about right, with the post-event day count helping break it into manageable chunks. Character development was almost non-existent other than the lead. It would have been nice to get a better sense of Will and maybe even the creepy guys.
The best low-budget films are the ones that allow the viewer to enjoy the story and forget/not realize they are missing anything. EMP: 333 Days nearly pulls that off. Wonderful acting from the young Ms. Ferreri in the lead role.
Speechless
diana26-271-7763744 January 2020
An interesting premise for a movie. For me the plot lacks research and direction. But like someothers have said before we should all be taking a long look at the situation and dangers presented. Survivalist skills should be a must for all to learn.
It was an interesting film.
braddy48 October 2019
Good Concept but...
vinetamorris1 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I liked the idea but as the movie progressed the two teens started driving me crazy with their inability to put together any kind of plan to survive except to eat and drink what they have, complain they are bored and then finally decide to move on without any provisions. Is this what would really happen....our teenagers would just sit around complaining until they starved to death? Fortunately they just keep finding food and bottled water wherever they go. Not a bad movie, cinematography was very good and acting passable, but the teen apathy was a bit hard to take.
A cup of coffee and a pair of toothpicks for your eyes and you'll be fine.
S_Soma10 October 2019
Warning: Spoilers
E.M.P. 333 DAYS is not really a bad movie as such. It's just lackluster, features a un-intriguing plot and all but screams it's amateur, no-budget origins.
Like most such movies, it's plot and what little action there is is entirely tailored around its budgetary constraints. "Locations" are private homes and the occasional rural farm yard. The notion of societal collapse is depicted as us, the audience, looking at the "concerned" faces of a couple of characters as they look out a window whilst serenaded with the sound effects of societal-collapse-violence; never do we actually see anything of what is actually happening.
I did give E.M.P. 333 DAYS some extra points for the fact that it did not engage in that ultimate of low-budget movie sins: incessant, unnecessary, nausea-inducing close-ups. If a movie features an endless chain-gun barrage of close-ups of talking heads for no justifiable reason, you know it's an absolute crap movie. Thankfully, there was very little of that in E.M.P. 333 DAYS, so 3 stars added on for that alone.
There are no surprises in E.M.P. 333 DAYS. A young, teenage girl, Niamh, is sent by her father (who has decidedly survivalist tendencies) to live with her grandmother in a more rural setting as tensions with North Korea escalate. On cue, a high-altitude EMP-generating bomb is detonated practically overhead, and everything electronic grinds to a halt. The fact that many types of electronics and probably the the majority of today's vehicles would survive with little or no damage I suppose is something we are expected to overlook in the interests of poetic license.
Poor old grandma kicks the bucket after only a few post-apocalyptic days and Niamh is left to fend for herself, which, for most of the first half hour of the movie, simply consists of living off of whatever is in the house plus what dad thoughtfully stockpiled for just such an emergency. Oh, and having to drag stinky old grandma off somewhere where she can be increasingly odiferous in private.
Before long the obligatory local yokel hooligans come sniffing around for snacks and our heroin decides to beat feet in a quest for one of dad's cashed supply dumps.
Along the way, Nianh picks up a young teenage boy while dodging the undesirables. I'll stop here so I don't spoil the adventure of discovery for you.
Collectively I think you can count the entire cast on less than two hands.
There is one high-altitude bomb explosion special-effect which is unspectacular but good enough. Probably something that comes with Adobe After Effects.
Again, there is nothing actually WRONG with this movie. I suppose it's just that it's absolute poverty is SO extreme it makes watching the movie a little depressing. It's threadbare means pokes up through the veneer of willing-suspension-of-disbelief in odd ways and distract you from the story.
For example, there is (I think) a vintage SS Chevelle that appears in several scenes towards the end. Apparently somebody forgot to remove the license plate and this evidently created an issue because in every scene where the plate on the Chevelle is visible it's blurred to conceal the plate numbers. Exactly like you would see in a Craigslist ad. Appearing as it does in what is supposed to be a movie simply causes you to look for it every time the plate is in the picture. I stared more intently at the blurred plate images than I did ANY of the characters. For some reason I found it fascinating that they would actually do this and leave it in the picture. I bet they didn't notice the visible plates issue until postprocessing and there was no budget to shoot those scenes again. And probably everybody was already back at work at McDonald's.
Ho-hum.
E.M.P. 333 DAYS is what it is and it's not terrible. Really, it's not anything. It's just there. In two weeks you won't remember it at all. In a year it won't even qualify as a movie trivia question.
Meh.
Like most such movies, it's plot and what little action there is is entirely tailored around its budgetary constraints. "Locations" are private homes and the occasional rural farm yard. The notion of societal collapse is depicted as us, the audience, looking at the "concerned" faces of a couple of characters as they look out a window whilst serenaded with the sound effects of societal-collapse-violence; never do we actually see anything of what is actually happening.
I did give E.M.P. 333 DAYS some extra points for the fact that it did not engage in that ultimate of low-budget movie sins: incessant, unnecessary, nausea-inducing close-ups. If a movie features an endless chain-gun barrage of close-ups of talking heads for no justifiable reason, you know it's an absolute crap movie. Thankfully, there was very little of that in E.M.P. 333 DAYS, so 3 stars added on for that alone.
There are no surprises in E.M.P. 333 DAYS. A young, teenage girl, Niamh, is sent by her father (who has decidedly survivalist tendencies) to live with her grandmother in a more rural setting as tensions with North Korea escalate. On cue, a high-altitude EMP-generating bomb is detonated practically overhead, and everything electronic grinds to a halt. The fact that many types of electronics and probably the the majority of today's vehicles would survive with little or no damage I suppose is something we are expected to overlook in the interests of poetic license.
Poor old grandma kicks the bucket after only a few post-apocalyptic days and Niamh is left to fend for herself, which, for most of the first half hour of the movie, simply consists of living off of whatever is in the house plus what dad thoughtfully stockpiled for just such an emergency. Oh, and having to drag stinky old grandma off somewhere where she can be increasingly odiferous in private.
Before long the obligatory local yokel hooligans come sniffing around for snacks and our heroin decides to beat feet in a quest for one of dad's cashed supply dumps.
Along the way, Nianh picks up a young teenage boy while dodging the undesirables. I'll stop here so I don't spoil the adventure of discovery for you.
Collectively I think you can count the entire cast on less than two hands.
There is one high-altitude bomb explosion special-effect which is unspectacular but good enough. Probably something that comes with Adobe After Effects.
Again, there is nothing actually WRONG with this movie. I suppose it's just that it's absolute poverty is SO extreme it makes watching the movie a little depressing. It's threadbare means pokes up through the veneer of willing-suspension-of-disbelief in odd ways and distract you from the story.
For example, there is (I think) a vintage SS Chevelle that appears in several scenes towards the end. Apparently somebody forgot to remove the license plate and this evidently created an issue because in every scene where the plate on the Chevelle is visible it's blurred to conceal the plate numbers. Exactly like you would see in a Craigslist ad. Appearing as it does in what is supposed to be a movie simply causes you to look for it every time the plate is in the picture. I stared more intently at the blurred plate images than I did ANY of the characters. For some reason I found it fascinating that they would actually do this and leave it in the picture. I bet they didn't notice the visible plates issue until postprocessing and there was no budget to shoot those scenes again. And probably everybody was already back at work at McDonald's.
Ho-hum.
E.M.P. 333 DAYS is what it is and it's not terrible. Really, it's not anything. It's just there. In two weeks you won't remember it at all. In a year it won't even qualify as a movie trivia question.
Meh.
Worth the watch
watchmanj27 December 2019
Not slow, 60 seconds into the film and there are questions presented that the viewer will be looking for answers to. It's well produced. Never met any of the production crew and I'm not one of the cast as other reviewers are suggesting.
Thinking about possible survival needs in America is far from most folks minds, but very near in 3rd world countries. EMP ? Go ahead and laugh, till it one happens. . An economic collapse or weather related disaster is a real possible and historically proven possibility. SO, having something prepared, or preparing people, is not counter productive. I liked the journal entry that revealed some of the thoughts that are hard to author on screen.
Ad for survivalist training.
jamalking1513 December 2019
License plate gate!
jamosmonk17 October 2019
Since it seems to have bothered a few people. Lol. The opaque license plate covers that were used in the film are nothing new. They obscure the plate almost completely so toll booth cameras, red light cameras, speed trap cameras and the like cannot capture the plate info. They Did Not blur out the plates in post or because of an issue of privacy. I read the reviews and apparently it really bothered some folks.
Well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions!
bforbrett4 May 2022
This movie was showing a 4.3 rating and despite the fact I rarely consider watching anything with a rating under 5, I gave it a shot - I was bored and scrolling forever trying to find something I hadn't already seen. Turns out that watching this movie was more punishment than I deserved for relaxing my selection standards. Far, far more.
There is barely a story to follow, the acting is woeful, the audio is worse than the story and the acting and lastly, it really does have a "filmed on a phone" feel (but not in a good way).
Avoid at all costs!!!
There is barely a story to follow, the acting is woeful, the audio is worse than the story and the acting and lastly, it really does have a "filmed on a phone" feel (but not in a good way).
Avoid at all costs!!!
Enjoyable (if low budget) take on Apocalypse
proche19512 December 2019
Amazing what can be done for under $10,000!
cliffosbon20 February 2021
Nice work on an amazingly meager budget! Under $10K to produce! Yes, it has its shortcomings but all in all the team should be quite proud of their work! The Fererri girl should stick with her craft and be allowed to mature in her acting.
No
pierre-restel8 January 2020
Charming if straightforward
MonsieurMS6 January 2020
Okay, this family affair, in which all members of the Ferreri family seem to participate, is not the most complicated apocalyptic movie ever. It's fairly straightforward in a sense. It has no great surprises. Yet, the simple determination of of the lead character is appealing. It is well acted, but there are no histrionics. That makes it more emotional, not less. Overall it grew on me as it went along. I liked it more and more.
Please stay away from this stinker at all cost!
psxexperten9 October 2019
All the cast and crews have written the 10 star reviews for this piece of trash. Such a waste of time!
Starting from a bad premise, continuing with a very bad script, add some unworthy actors, stupid dialogues, and a messed up logic, and there you have it: the true definition of true garbage. Ok, the purpose of a movie is to entertain you, right? But no, you'll end up extremely nervous, praying to get back the time wasted for this trash. No credibility, no story, nothing. Move along guys, nothing good here...
Not too shabby for $6500
gsjjones5 February 2020
Definitely low budget but not disappointing. The young girl did a very decent job as the lead. No special effects, no Hollywood big budget shock scenes. In reality, the events depicted would be far more catastrophic; since there are very few people with self sustaining skills. Our existence is fragile and reliant upon precarious and vulnerable infrastructure. It'll make you think. I highly recommend the novel "Ten Seconds After". Absolutely chilling.
No credit to the book "one second after"
mabrannon29 December 2019
Gotta give it credit for the fact it kept me entertained. The book "One second after" is either feeding the story line of this movie or it just a huge coincidence. The book is following a man but that is basically the only difference.
Overall a great low budget film
chrisdumont-1631918 February 2020
The story/idea is fantastic, thought provoking and a great idea for a film. It's obvious that the film had a very low budget and some of it was probably shot on cellphone. The acting was just terrible, but they all have lots of potential. I have no doubt that given a bigger budget and better resources this would have been in the theaters.
Writer didn't do enough research
rclyburn-2520423 December 2019
The day after the attack, the grandmother turned on the gas stove in the kitchen. If there's no electricity because of emp, there's no gas for cooking. The power company has to pump the gas to you. How do they do that? Electric pumps. Then 7 days go by and it's not till then they lose their water. Sorry, that would have been lost on the first day as well. Again, no electricity to pump the water. Then it's winter. No heat yet she's able to stay warm by just lighting a tiny fire in an empty metal food container. Other things that were also not taken into consideration. Disposal of bodily waste. Or grandma's body. The list goes on and on. Number one rule for writer's, RESEARCH. He either didn't bother researching his subject or didn't do enough.
The Marvelous Rosa Ferreri
mjmegerle1 February 2020
Rosa Ferreri is phenomenal throughout as in Millie Bobby Brown quality. Rosa is positively brilliant in this movie.
The movie started out solid. We learn a lot of survival information. Sadly, it felt like 45 minutes into the movie, it suddenly changed writers and directors and not for the better. The movie went from, "Yep. That's actually how it would go down," to "Are you serious right now?!"
The movie started out solid. We learn a lot of survival information. Sadly, it felt like 45 minutes into the movie, it suddenly changed writers and directors and not for the better. The movie went from, "Yep. That's actually how it would go down," to "Are you serious right now?!"
Sad, Garbage-Science Premise
sajpratt-82-2652774 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Here we go again--a film based upon an ignorant, ridiculous premise simply because either the writers are oblivious to basic science or they believe the majority of their audience is--or a combination of both.
A hefty atmospheric 'EMP burst' would probably blow the fuses in a bunch of power grids (easily replaced shortly afterwards), fry a few unshielded circuit boards in various things like your TV set, radio, iPhone, etc., but the effect would be over a very short time after the burst 'burst'.
To sustain any kind of EMP effect longer than a few minutes (and that's pushing it), you'd need to fire off megatonnage nuclear blasts in the atmosphere every ten minutes or so, which would eventually destroy all life on the planet anyway.
The other event that could cause such a phenomenon would be a massive, sustained bombardment of Cosmic Rays--possibly from a nearby supernova--also destroying all life on the planet anyway.
In either scenario, no one would be around to complain that their iPhone stopped working.
But hey! It's the 'belief' that counts! Not stupid old reality! Right?
A hefty atmospheric 'EMP burst' would probably blow the fuses in a bunch of power grids (easily replaced shortly afterwards), fry a few unshielded circuit boards in various things like your TV set, radio, iPhone, etc., but the effect would be over a very short time after the burst 'burst'.
To sustain any kind of EMP effect longer than a few minutes (and that's pushing it), you'd need to fire off megatonnage nuclear blasts in the atmosphere every ten minutes or so, which would eventually destroy all life on the planet anyway.
The other event that could cause such a phenomenon would be a massive, sustained bombardment of Cosmic Rays--possibly from a nearby supernova--also destroying all life on the planet anyway.
In either scenario, no one would be around to complain that their iPhone stopped working.
But hey! It's the 'belief' that counts! Not stupid old reality! Right?
Well-done survival film
Snootz3 January 2020
It's a shame there are so many low reviews on this film, but that's a result of today's CGI adrenaline-junkie generation. If someone is looking for action/adventure, gore, sex, constant violence or any other post-apocalyptic "Mad Max" type nonsense... give this a pass. That's not what this is about.
This is a slow-moving but reasonably realistic survival film of the life of an 11-year-old girl following a high-sky EMP nuke strike that kills all the electricity in the U.S. (No spoilers there... that's all spelled out in the film description and trailer.)
Unlike so many films in this genre, it is refreshingly devoid of excessive violence, gore, nudity or language. I won't say anything about what happens during the film, but it has a theme, climax and believable ending... which is better than other such films I've seen.
Word is it was done on a $6500 budget. If that is true this provides a heavy kick in the tenders to Asylum films, since it proves that a good film can be made on a very low budget.
It is a slow-moving film. The directing fails in a couple of spots and it becomes a little dull, which is why I give it only 8 instead of 10 stars. For the most part the slowness is warranted. It's not intended as an action film; it's intended to provide a fairly realistic portrayal of what life might be like after such an event. Boredom and tedium is part of that scenario; throughout most of the film the director and actress gets that idea across while still maintaining interest and integrity to the film concept.
If anything, the film is a little too tame; in such a situation things would probably be far worse than portrayed here. But it's conceivable that, given a small corner of society and the right situation, this is how things would go. It's not intended to be typical nor ultra-realistic; the girl is in a special situation and the director sticks to that idea throughout the film. The directing and acting is good, surprisingly without jump-the-shark or just-for-the-action moments. It's just a story of survival from the viewpoint of one girl. If one is tolerant of films-that-tell-a-story, this can be quite a decent watch.
This is a slow-moving but reasonably realistic survival film of the life of an 11-year-old girl following a high-sky EMP nuke strike that kills all the electricity in the U.S. (No spoilers there... that's all spelled out in the film description and trailer.)
Unlike so many films in this genre, it is refreshingly devoid of excessive violence, gore, nudity or language. I won't say anything about what happens during the film, but it has a theme, climax and believable ending... which is better than other such films I've seen.
Word is it was done on a $6500 budget. If that is true this provides a heavy kick in the tenders to Asylum films, since it proves that a good film can be made on a very low budget.
It is a slow-moving film. The directing fails in a couple of spots and it becomes a little dull, which is why I give it only 8 instead of 10 stars. For the most part the slowness is warranted. It's not intended as an action film; it's intended to provide a fairly realistic portrayal of what life might be like after such an event. Boredom and tedium is part of that scenario; throughout most of the film the director and actress gets that idea across while still maintaining interest and integrity to the film concept.
If anything, the film is a little too tame; in such a situation things would probably be far worse than portrayed here. But it's conceivable that, given a small corner of society and the right situation, this is how things would go. It's not intended to be typical nor ultra-realistic; the girl is in a special situation and the director sticks to that idea throughout the film. The directing and acting is good, surprisingly without jump-the-shark or just-for-the-action moments. It's just a story of survival from the viewpoint of one girl. If one is tolerant of films-that-tell-a-story, this can be quite a decent watch.
Good till the ending
norpatrinidad4 May 2020
The only reason I watched this movie was because of the limited budget. Having dabbled in video I wanted to see what someone could come up with for such a small budget. I was very impressed. It's a slow story but the point is to feel the difference in a non electrical world and that was accomplished. In fact I would have scored it higher except for the ending. I would redue the last 20 minutes completely.
Who knew the end of the world would be this boring?
dipasqu-28 January 2020
How does a typical bratty teenager, obsessed with selfies and her phone survive the end of civilization? I don't know, she just kind of does despite having no discernible special skills. The film alludes to a couple days of disaster prep that her dad gave her, but it's not like she was raised by Sarah Connor from the Terminator series. Her only assistance comes from an equally inept pal that she meets along the way.
The film is full of long, drawn out scenes of boredom and tedium. It's probably pretty close to what it reality would be like eating canned goods in a basement for months. So I applaud the film for its nod to realism, but it makes for a pretty dull movie.
I saw the film was a Ferreri production, and then I saw it was edited, written and directed by a Ferreri, stars a Ferreri as the main protagonist, another Ferreri plays her mother, the guy that plays her dad also did the sound and music. Then it hits you, this isn't a real film, it's some sort of feature length family get together. Like a vanity project for the whole family. I think it's everybody's first film, and the amateurish talent level is pretty obvious. Don't get me wrong, it's decent for everyone's first time, but it feels like a student film.
It's bad, I wouldn't watch it again unless an EMP hits and this is the only thing that I can watch for some god forsaken reason...and even then I'd probably be like "ehhhhhh."
The film is full of long, drawn out scenes of boredom and tedium. It's probably pretty close to what it reality would be like eating canned goods in a basement for months. So I applaud the film for its nod to realism, but it makes for a pretty dull movie.
I saw the film was a Ferreri production, and then I saw it was edited, written and directed by a Ferreri, stars a Ferreri as the main protagonist, another Ferreri plays her mother, the guy that plays her dad also did the sound and music. Then it hits you, this isn't a real film, it's some sort of feature length family get together. Like a vanity project for the whole family. I think it's everybody's first film, and the amateurish talent level is pretty obvious. Don't get me wrong, it's decent for everyone's first time, but it feels like a student film.
It's bad, I wouldn't watch it again unless an EMP hits and this is the only thing that I can watch for some god forsaken reason...and even then I'd probably be like "ehhhhhh."
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