So, I was flipping through the channels and came across Right at Your Door, starring Mary McCormack and Rory Cochrane. The premise was interesting, so I started watching.
Basically, an ordinary Los Angeles couple (no kids) gets up in the morning and starts their day. The wife head downtown to work and the husband is chilling at home. News comes over the radio that bombs have gone off in downtown LA and at LAX. Oh no! Wife works downtown! So, husband tries to call her. Of course, cell phone networks are overloaded with people trying to reach loved ones in the affected areas.
Husband takes off for downtown, even though authorities are telling people to stay away. After a while, he discovers that authorities are quite serious about keeping people away from downtown. Husband returns home to find the neighbor’s handyman in his house. There are heated words, but handyman gets to stay. Word comes over the radio to seal up houses because the bombs are spreading – something. So, the two men seal the house with plastic sheeting and duct tape.
The story goes on, but I don’t need to tell the whole story. There is a twist at the end, though not a terribly surprising one.
Questions in the next post.
SPOILERS AHEAD
So, a major theme in the movie is the coldness of the authorities during the emergency. Certainly, it would begin with lots of confusion. Communication is spotty and rumors abound.
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Why is everyone Brad encounters so mean? Once the authorities seem to have a plan, shouldn’t they approach affected residents a bit more calmly? They might get better responses.
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Who is the guy that Lexi leaves with? I assume it was her ex-husband or ex-boyfriend, but it never is explained. I didn’t understand what happened to him, either. Was he shot be the cops on the way to the hospital?
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The twist is that Brad gets infected with the mystery disease. Worse, he could carry it to others. So, the authorities gas him in his house and kill him? Really? Is there a mechanism for the US government to kill citizens in this way? Seemed a bit much, to me.
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Meanwhile, Lexi gets treated in an ambulance while her husband is murdered by soldiers. What disease could a bomb disperse that would work this way? The virus seems to have the affect of being fatal to those the writers want to die and treatable to others.
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The main conflict in the story is that Brad stay safe (he thinks) inside his house and his wife is outside dying of this dread disease. Both characters are conflicted about this. What would you do in Brad’s situation? Or Lexi’s situation? One of Lexi’s actions resulted in Brad getting infected and subsequently gassed.
Well, the movie is making the rounds on the HBO channels if anyone is interested. Looking at my online guide, looks like it’s only available On Demand.
I watched it back when it got to Netflix…
I remember things differently. I don’t recall anything out of the ordinary or thematically “cold” about the authorities. The cop shooting at the beginning is tragic but not treated as “OMG they murdered this guy!” All the authority figures are trying to deal with a chaotic catastrophe. The soldiers who visit him later as businesslike but not cruel. They even send someone in to try to explain to him what is happening. He’s already dead/dying because he’s been stewing in the poison and may be contagious. In this situation what would you expect the authorities to do?
So I don’t see that as a theme of the movie.
I remember it being more about the lengths and limits of love. If you want to get into themes- The main character seals himself off from the world and ends up instigating his own demise. His wife is out in the world and is damaged but finds ways to get through it and survives.
Regarding question #2…I don’t remember this at all? Is it possible she was just carpooling to work?