Carriers
for violence, disturbing content and language.
Reviewed by: Thaisha Geiger
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Very Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Teens Adults |
| Genre: | Psychological-Thriller Disaster |
| Length: | 1 hr. 24 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2009 |
| USA Release: |
September 4, 2009 (wide—100+ theaters) DVD: December 29, 2009 |
ANXIETY, worry and fear—What does the Bible say? Answer
Plagues in the Bible
How do I know what is right from wrong? Answer
How can I decide whether a particular activity—such as smoking, gambling, etc.—is wrong? Answer
How did bad things come about? Answer
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer
What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer
Does God feel our pain? Answer
Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer
How good is good enough? Answer
| Featuring |
Chris Pine (Brian) Lou Taylor Pucci (Danny) Piper Perabo (Bobby) Emily VanCamp (Kate) Christopher Meloni (Frank) Kiernan Shipka (Jodie), Ron McClary (Preacher), Mark Moses (Doctor), Josh Berry (Survivalist #1), Tim Janis (Survivalist #2), Dale Malley (Survivalist #3), Dylan Kenin (Tom), LeAnne Lynch (Rose), Jan Cunningham (Passenger), Mary Peterson (Laura Merkin), Sequoyah Adams-Rice (Sick Child), Brighid Fleming (Sick child) |
| Director |
Àlex Pastor David Pastor |
| Producer | Ivy Boy Productions, Paramount Vantage, Likely Story, Ray Angelic, Stefanie Azpiazu, Anthony Bregman, Michael Williams |
| Distributor |
 Paramount Pictures Corporation, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS |
“The rules are simple. You break them, you die…”
“Carriers” is a rather decent thriller that deals with yet another worldwide pandemic wiping out the majority of human population. However, rather than gruesome zombies running around, the suspense comes from within the human psyche and how ruthless it can become when the fear of becoming infected is ever so present.
“Carriers” was made in 2007 and apparently shelved for two years until its lead actor Chris Pine found success in “Star Trek.” As in the latter movie, Pine plays the lead role excellently as the hot-headed older brother Brian. Following his lead is his younger, submissive brother Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci). Joining them are Brian’s girlfriend (Piper Perabo), and Danny’s nonchalant friend (Emily VanCamp).
While Brian is immature, he certainly isn’t reckless when it comes to enforcing the rules of survival. When a man with a truck blocks the road, Brian knows better than to allow the man to approach. Seeing his sick daughter hiding in the truck, the foursome attempt to escape, but their car becomes damaged in the process. Defeated, the group returns and agree to take the man and his daughter to a place where an antidote is rumored to have been created.
The violence and gore is moderate, but still disturbing at times. There are a few shooting scenes and dead, decomposing bodies shown. A dog is shown eating a carcass. A doctor explains he’s about to kill several children by providing them a poisonous drink.
There’s some sexual content. The females are ordered to strip down to their bras and panties to see if they have the virus. Later on, one of them is shown bathing while in her bra and jeans. Brian speaks of wanting to have sex with Bobby, but they only kiss. However, the profanity is very heavy throughout the film with about 40 uses. While one could say that the cursing fits the stereotype of the survivors, it’s still excessive nonetheless with 3 GDs, and at least 17 sh*t.
The movie is effective in showing a world without hope. What would one do if a family member becomes sick with a highly contagious disease? Would one pull over to help someone who’s already doomed to die? “Carriers” certainly made me feel heavily pensive with these questions during my viewing, which I felt was its aim.
While one could easily write a long dissertation on “Carriers” and its apocalyptical times, the book of Revelation is the only true source of what will happen in the end. Humans are never hopeless, since we have Christ as our savior. Paul once wrote that he longed to depart and go with Christ, but he knew that he was still needed here on Earth. He never feared death, but knew that as long as he was alive his purpose was to spread the message of the gospel. Likewise, Christians should go out share the one true hope with those who feel they have none.
Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Mild
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
I would recommend this movie not on the fact that it is a good movie but just to open your eye on the fact of that a plague from the animals will kill 1/4 of the population. (This movie could not happen where most humanity is wiped out.) And remember this that our hope is in Jesus Christ.
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
REVIEW: As stated above, the simple plot is not what drives this movie. This is a well stated tale of what could happen when the end of the world gets around to happening. Human nature being what it is, not all of the actions and reactions of the characters present the human race at it finest. Frankly some of the main characters’ decisions seem directly at odds with their stated goal of staying alive. Yet, I think most, if not all, of their stupid choices are completely consistent with how actual human beings would behave in like circumstances. But the really compelling behavior of these “survivors” involves the moral choices they make–whether they seem wise or stupid to the viewer. In fact, we are presented with apparently good people who react badly when confronted with life and death situations. Some people react more badly than others.
From a Christian point of view, I’d caution you to not put too much weight on how well this movie matches up with Biblical prophecy about the end times. Rather, I think the better view is to concede that CARRIERS is fiction. CARRIERS follows in a long tradition of books and movies about the end of the world. I’ve read and seen quite a few of them. This film definitely held my attention. It’s well worth watching, if you’re not put off by the genre.
RECOMMENDATION: This is a horror movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. However, if you are a fan of this genre–I recommend watching CARRIERS. Tom Truex http://k-line.ORG (K_Line Christian Online)
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4