Greenland (2020)

Director: Ric Roman Waugh

Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, David Denman, Hope Davis

A family struggles for survival in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good comet disaster movie, so I was looking forward to ‘Greenland’.

Fortunately, ‘Greenland’ did not disappoint. The film is not as action-packed as ‘Armageddon’, since it focused more on the drama surrounding the disaster. The film also illustrated people’s behavior during disaster, and the dire consequences of their actions, and humanity’s inability to work together when disaster strikes.

Within the first few minutes the film hit us with an overdone cliche: a disaster movie featuring yet another couple with marital problems who will – no doubt – be reunited due to the disaster. Fortunately, the rest of the film was not as cliched and a great depiction of human greed and selfishness.

The suspense is elevated by our hero, John’s son Nathan, who is diabetic. John and his wife, Allison, and son has been selected to be taken to an underground shelter. However, just before boarding the plane, Nathan forgets his insulin in the car. This sets off a series of events that throws their lives – and chances of survival – into turmoil. Thanks to good performances, this film felt realistic, and there’s some excellent scenes of comet debris crashing to earth. ‘Greenland’ is an easy watch with a simple premise and no surprise twists.

And who is to say this can’t – or won’t – happen?

Would I watch it again? Possibly.