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An apocalypse movie where we virtually ignore the apocalypse itself, "One Hundred Mornings" is an arresting, affecting film that doesn't just go beyond its premise, it transcends it.
The film centers on two couples-Jonathan (Ciaran McMenamin) and Hannah (Alex Reid), and Mark (Rory Keenan) and Katie (Kelly Campbell). They live in Jonathan and Hannah's house in the Irish countryside, living off of their stockpile of food and whatever animals they manage to hunt.
They try to stay in the house as much as possible, but when someone gets cabin fever and goes out for a walk, the others invariably shoot them a worried glance, which is better than the gun they get when they encounter others.
The electricity, is on sparingly at best, rarely at worst, so the group has to fend for themselves at night when predators, mostly human ones, approach. They have no guns (Hannah wouldn't allow them to get one before it was too late), but their attackers often do.
Jonathan and Katie are also sleeping together, though we sense it's more out of boredom than love.
Their neighbor is a friendly fellow named Tim (Robert O' Mahoney), though he's not so friendly as to offer free food.
Two men identifying themselves as police officers stop by on occasion, and give the four fireworks they can use if they need to call for help.
As you can imagine, with a precarious situation like this one, things quickly start to unravel. The rules and guidelines we typically follow in civilized society are breaking down, and it's terrifying how quickly the law of the wild comes to rule again.
"Mornings" is beautifully shot, full of lush Irish forests and rolling hills. Writer/director Conor Horgan creates and maintains an almost constant sense of tense dread even as he shows us almost tranquil scenery, and does a great job of holding our attention with a script that is neither particularly verbose or action-oriented. It's hardly boring; on the contrary virtually every frame is riveting.
We never find out exactly what has happened, but it doesn't really matter. "Mornings" is about the characters, not the gimmick.