Nigel P Opening with a lengthy dialogue-free scene, Kendal (Haley Lu Richardson) appears to be the sole survivor of some apocalyptic occurrence that has left the world ravaged and arid. As it turns out, she is one of a handful of characters who are all trying to survive in their sun-stung waterless desert.Kendal and her sick friend Dean (the wonderfully named Booboo Stewart) are attempting to protect their life-saving well from the wandering evil water baron Carson (Jon Gries) and his band of scavengers, who are attempting to secure all water-giving appliances as his own.Despite a slow beginning, and the burning feeling that this might just be a catwalk teen-soap, this soon developed into something far more interesting. Richardson is convincing and appealing as Kendall, and even the young actor Max Charles, who could have been precocious as juvenile survivor Alby, is very good.The finale plays out very much like a Western, with a well-staged showdown between various characters. The ending is low-key in a way that befits the story being told, and the stunning scenery, shot in California, is a double-edged sword: beautiful but deadly. Recommended.

Peter Pluymers "There was a time when a man owned the land, he controlled the water. But things are different. The water's mine, so the land is mine."The feeling I had after watching this post-apocalyptic film, was an irresistible urge to drink. Just as in "Mad Max" there's a scorching drought. Earthly life is reduced to a struggle for survival in a world that hasn't seen a drop of rain in more than 10 years and the survivors search daily for some precious water. Similarly, the courageous and very young Kendal (Haley Lu Richardson) who goes on patrol every day to get a few sips of water for herself and a few survivors in the area. She's also looking for a particular component that's required to make a defect airplane so she and the sick Dean (Booboo Stewart) can escape from the dead and dry Oregon valley.First the positive comments about this movie. The dreary, parched landscape is truly brilliant portrayed. The decaying houses buried by sand and the endless sweltering desert ensure, as I mentioned earlier, that you soon need something to quench your thirst. To create this miserable, desolate world, the Mojave Desert was used. The isolation of the scattered remaining inhabitants, is filmed in an adequate way. More than once the images made me think of an old Western movie. Also the performances were, especially that of the youthful Richardson, admirable. Quite an achievement at that age. She plays the role as protector and guardian of the spring with skill. The role of Booboo is limited, partly due to his illness, which means that his action space is confined to the attic. And the most adorable part is played by Max Charles as Alby, a brave little boy who sometimes turns out to be more mature than we thought in the first place. And third, despite the lack of action, the tension is tangibly present.Unfortunately, there were also some negative points. First, the bad guys are not very original. Obviously, there's again the religious whining. And when push comes to shove, they turn out not to be that clever when it's about defending themselves. After a while it even started to be a bit monotonous. Over and over again the back and forth running in between the various buildings and abandoned vehicles, really started to irritate at a given time. And seeing this fragile girl using a samurai sword as if she has done this already for years, was also hard to believe.But still it managed to fascinate me and it all looked intriguing enough, despite the limited budget. The desperate situation in which the individuals found themselves and the insane plan of Carson to acquire dominion over all the available water, so his daughter Brooke would become heiress of an empire, created a nerve-wracking cat-and-mouse game. "The Well" is a typical low-budget film that nevertheless managed to surpass other similar films, just by the appropriate use of limited resources, its authenticity and some decent acting.More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

Theo Robertson Considering this site lists this movie as being made for television* I was expecting something along the lines of what you get on the SyFy Channel . Warning sign number one . I read the synopsis on this page and saw it featured a ballsy heroine in a post apocalypse scenario which conjures up images of teen marketed speculative action thrillers similar to THE HUNGER GAMES and THE MAZE RUNNER . Warning sign number two . On top of that this film is known by the dual title of THE WELL and THE LAST SURVIVORS which is never a good sign of a film so it looked like three strikes and your out but still decided to give it a chance and while I wasn't blown away in amazement I was occasionally surprised by THE WELL Set in the near future mankind faces extinction due to a lack of precipitation making the land surface of the planet arid . Now human life is dependent on water , a human being can't live for four or five days without it and one wonders why governments haven't embarked on a crash program of building of water desalination plants to solve or at least lessen the problem . Perhaps they have but the film doesn't really give details of this and is left open ended and mainly unexplained . That said the enigma of the drought doesn't really damage the story and unlike the recent Brit flick HOW I LIVE NOW the apocalypse is fairly convincing and well done . The film concentrates on the trauma of teenage girl Kendal as she tries to survive against a gang of scavengers who want to rule the desert valley she lives in by stealing all water resources and murdering anyone who is of no use to them . In some ways it plays out like a revenge Western . I was taken aback in how gritty and gloomy the story was and it's not afraid to kill off characters . Haley Lu Richardson makes a somewhat uneven heroine and while Kendal is written and cast to audience identification for a female teen audience she wasn't really someone who I could relate to though I did appreciate the downbeat mood of the piece . That said - and I hope am not being patronising - the people who can identify with Kendal will probably be put off THE WELL / THE LAST SURVIVORS by the gloomy tone . In other words despite some strengths it won't satisfy all the audience all the time* It was until I wrote this review I realised "TV" beside the title was IV . I should have gone to Specsavers

quincytheodore For a post-apocalyptic movie, The Well has the environment right. It's entirely set in rustic desert settlement where water has become a rare commodity. The lead female character is certainly identifiable, and Haley Hu Richardson's good performance makes it easy to root for the girl survivor. However, the narrative might be lacking and some parts of the movie are irritatingly flawed such as the hazy scene when it's dark and its increasing number of inconsistent details towards the end.The world is suffering from perpetual dry season as the rain stops pouring. This unfortunate calamity has changed the city into just a few barren houses and the people into vagrants. Kendal (Haley Hu Richardson) is one of the survivors and she has to deal with the barren wasteland as well as some of its volatile occupants. While the lead is pretty good on her own, majority of the supporting characters might not be appealing to audiences.The film intents to draw sympathy as Kendal is struggling for her survival as she ventures into the real equipped with boldness and occasional luck. The film succeeds on doing so, but only partially. The little boy character seems off putting as he is detached from any interaction. If this is an attempt for a strong lone wolf character, the result is far from that. Dean as a sick companion feels doomed and depressing from the start while some of the antagonist are too overbearing in their zealous quest.Visual is pretty good, the movie plays with the setting to create a believable land plagued by drought. Color is mostly sandy brown with plenty of bright light for panoramic shots. Sadly, it doesn't translate well when the scenes turn to night time or any place covered by darkness. These are excessively vague and while these sequences are not that many, they are enough to hamper the quality.Some details are jarring for the post-apocalyptic world, which is unfortunately since the movie invested a lot on the setting already. Female characters are looking like models, which is hard to believe when even basic need such as water is scarce. At some points Kendal is supposed to be stealthy, but she merely struts in an open field for all to see. Not to mention at latter half she becomes one woman army, dispatching foes with shotguns and a katana like it's a Walking Dead episode.The Well delivers an intriguing premise with the teenage girl lead and it makes good use of the barren land, although the entirety of her journey might feel inconsistent and contrived.