When a comet passes near the Earth’s atmosphere in the austere dystopian thriller “Only”, it first brings down ashes, then a virus which is generally fatal for women. Millions of women around the world are dying and survivors are forced into hiding. It is a dark concept that “Only” embraces with tiring fidelity.
In flashback, Eva (Freida Pinto) and Will (Leslie Odom Jr.) are portrayed as a love-dove couple, celebrating years together and making plans for the future. But when the pandemic broke out, Will insisted that they be quarantined. He obsessively disinfects and closes their apartment in town, and protects Eva from hostile authorities.
The story begins on the 400th day of their sequestration. Based on the silence of her chat room for survivors, Eva may be the last woman in the world. When the police come looking for her, Eva and Will flee to the countryside, an arid landscape that at least gives them room to breathe.
The writer-director Takashi Doscher renounces the apocalyptic spectacle to focus on the effects of the pandemic on the novel by Will and Eva. Pity. Most of the scenes could have been extracted from a generic relational drama, and only the couple’s conversation, and not their visually desaturated world, sets them apart. The saving grace of this often annoying thriller is that Doscher gives his actors time to create character and intimacy, and Pinto and Odom offer warm and affectionate performances like two people facing the end of their world.
Only
Unclassified. Duration: 1 hour 38 minutes.