Midlands Review of The Truckman

midlandsmovies • October 19, 2023

The Truckman


Directed by Andrea M. Catinella


2023


We open with a Deuteronomy quote – a book of the Jewish Torah consisting of sermons from Moses about the years of wilderness and the arrival at the Promised Land - and this Holy scripture is more than apt for The Truckman, a story of survival in a harsh world of conflict.


A selection of excellently captured drone shots begin the story and display the splendid and peaceful countryside (of Warwick) which is then contrasted with a voiceover and radio news clips that detail a climate emergency leaving only a few forests left.


With water scarce, we see John (Benjamin Peter Jones) and his son Deacon (Joseph Emms) disagree about how to confront the challenges they face. And as people talk about resorting to drinking urine, the film solidly sets up its disaster world where a camp of survivors discuss their dwindling supplies.


Contrasting this is a brief scene where a quasi-religious sect with ominous red symbols on their foreheads (the Archetypes) appear in the woods and whose sinister chief promises to “lead my people to salvation”.


Returning to the calm encampment we see a number of resourceful folk as well as Deacon’s wife – who is heavily pregnant. This leads to The Truckman’s script which could do with a slight polish as characters often explain every obvious situation and emotion. Lines like “I’ll protect you”, says Deacon (we can see you love your wife on screen) and “It hurts so much” (well, you’re giving birth, madam) seem particularly unnecessary. A “born into a world full of violence” platitude is on-the-nose and, to be honest, it also seems the least of your worries when a sentient human is coming from your loins.


It reminded me of the recent film Vesper (our review) which had a similar eco-message warning about struggles for scarce resources, whilst the pregnancy theme harks to similar post-apocalyptic movies Children of Men (2006) and A Quiet Place (2018). Both they and The Truckman all successfully explore how present global issues will affect the next generation after us. When the inevitable birth occurs however, it takes up a good 3+ minutes of this short’s runtime which felt too long without really developing much in the way of story. And a child that is eventually (and obviously) named Hope.


Yet the director does use some excellent moments of special effects with a car on fire and the hand-held camera work is first-rate - giving the film plenty of energy and adding a lot of realism to the dramatic scenes.


As family tragedies begin to come to light, the camp is suddenly thrown into turmoil as a man is discovered injured on the forest floor. This incident leads to a heart-pounding, and well-edited, encounter with The Archetypes in an exceptional chaotic battle.


This all may seem like sci-fi fantasy but (at the time of writing in Oct 2023) is highly prescient with current world affairs. The recent terrorist attack in Israel with its tragic fighting over land and resources based around belief has scary parallels with the short.


And without spoilers, there’s some very disturbing and emotional scenes as the story heads towards its dark conclusion with the question of revenge and righteousness coming to the forefront. Will a cycle of violence continue or is the nature of revenge simply the search for justice? Or is it more simply the survival of the fittest in a world of insufficient resources?


The film provides no easy answers to this and little in the way of hope to be honest. But that may be its biggest attribute. It doesn’t shy from the awful consequences that could (and do) occur when situations become dire for those involved. Whether it’s belief or science, a lot of aspects are explored and The Truckman ends as an intriguing short of contemporary and intertwining issues that boldly explores how global disasters can lead to horrific outcomes affecting everyone, no matter who you are.


★★★½


3.5 / 5


Michael Sales


Extra note: A straight-to-the-point bit of advice for filmmakers is to be succinct with a film’s synopsis when promoting. Where possible stay away from providing the entire plot in detail, its various thematic strands and definitely no spoilers.

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Up! (1976) Dir. Russ Meyer  Well, bi-Adolf Hitler BDSM is not something (a) I thought I’d ever see 5 minutes into a movie and (b) ever expected to write in my lifetime to be fair but this spicy start is pretty standard for the work of exploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer. Up! is a kind of r*pe-revenge softcore p*rn film (there’s gonna be a fair bit of self-censorship in this review so apologies in advance), the type Meyer is known for. I’d describe the plot in more detail but it’s mostly a convoluted and incoherent mess of double-crossing, murder, violence and lots and lots of humping. In short, a man called Adolph gets murdered and a woman investigates (kinda) the circumstances but as she does so, a group of locals blackmail, attack and screw each other with the murder mystery barely mentioned throughout. With so little narrative, it could be argued if it’s essentially p*rn? To be fair, not far off. It’s about extreme as you can go without simply making a s*x film. Is that a…no, it’s a belly button hole. Bookending the film (and also seen at various points throughout) is a Greek Chorus - simply a busty fully nude woman of course - who delivers dialogue like “Pummelling the scrotum with joyous supplication” and other such poeticisms. This artistic flourish is mostly pointless - the actress herself saying the words were tough to learn because it was utter nonsense. On a technical level, the editing is surprisingly well done and the 4k image is frankly fantastic. Someone somewhere must be putting together a post-modern take about the beautiful landscapes and cinematography of Meyer’s * ahem * output. But it definitely does have a kitsch artistry. It has certainly provided plenty of cinematic influence though. Elements of Tarantino grindhouse sensibilities are on show - Meyers likes bosoms as much as Quents likes feet - and there’s even a leather gimp early on. I can also see how its had an impact on Ti West X’s with a focus on sexuality and the body as well, more obviously, Anna Biller’s feminist-twist The Love Witch (2016). Suffice to say it’s not for the weak of heart. I think in this day and age you can’t go into this completely blind to its style, period and context though. It's an X-rated Carry On style that was bad taste then and it’s bad taste now. It revels in its sleaziness without a single hint of shame or apology. Simply saying 'deal with it'. The main negative though is the absence of plot - if the film can even be looked at like that - which is barely present. This is a shame as the whole thing could do with a bit more coherence rather than endless shagging. But it’s far from titillation, it’s mostly clowning - albeit a very adult version of it. More saucy than sexy. Trying to review this through modern sensibilities is almost impossible. It’s as offensive can be from the first scene through to the final credits - heck even this 4k menu is simply one of the film's many s*x scenes. But there are some progressive themes as it doesn’t shy from confronting sexual freedom, bisexuality, gay sex, BDSM and consensual exploration. There's moments of comedy thrown in and I enjoyed a frankly hilarious 5-minute monologue explaining the culprit’s intentions, which was a ludicrous way to deliver a slasher-style ending. I suppose the main thing about Up! (and Meyers’ work overall) is there’s a sort of love it or loathe it quality about the whole shebang. But it’s so unlike anything being made today - for good or bad - that it’s never anything other than unpredictably fascinating. More explicit than most Meyers films - in fact more than any film - it’s a lewd, rude and crude (s)exploration with a satirical edge and campy enjoyment bouncing from every frame. ★★★ 3 / 5 Michael Sales Severin Films releases Russ Meyers' UP! (1976) and MOTORPSYCHO (1965) on 28 April 2025 in newly restored and scanned 4k with hours of new and archival Special Features https://severinfilms.co.uk/
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