In the not-too-distant future, the world is ravaged by brutal climate changes, colloquially known as the Cloud Fall. The combination of pollution and relentless mining of Earth's resources through industrialism has left the environment nearly unlivable and extremely hostile to human habitation. Humanity is forcefully reverted to a simpler lifestyle, relying on barter for the two most valuable resources now: Water purifiers, called tabs, and silver, ground up to line the interior of breathing masks, to keep out a painful and fatal airborne disease known as Black Lung.
Outlaw gangs plague the trade routes and threaten the settlements of this future world, just as they did in the American West of the 19th century. As a consequence, bounty hunting has become a lucrative, if dangerous, business. One of the most successful hunters is a woman named Gage. Hearing of an unusually ambitious outlaw named Jackson, who is building a whole town for criminals, Gage decides to adopt the identity of a criminal she's just killed, and infiltrate Jackson's organisation.
Of course, not every bandit in this town is welcoming of newcomers, even ones they believe to be criminals like themselves, and for Gage, as a successful bounty hunter, there's the added risk that she will bump into someone who recognises her.
Whether Gage can keep her real identity a secret or not, it seems inevitable that this is going to end in blood.
First things first, Scorched Earth stars former MMA fighter and noted transphobe and anti-vaxxer Gina Carano in the leading role. I almost didn't watch or review the film because of her involvement, but ultimately decided to let it through on the basis that the movie was made before she publicly revealed her unpleasant and dangerous beliefs. If her presence is a red line for you, I respect that.
There's quite a lot of overlap in the structure of post-apocalyptic narratives and westerns; both tend to feature isolated enclaves of civilisation, gangs of thuggish, predatory hoodlums, and one or more dangerous drifters who decide, sometimes reluctantly, to protect the former from the latter. Like the 1980s offering Steel Dawn, which basically re-used the plotline of Shane, this film leans heavily into the obvious parallels. Scorched Earth basically is a western; it has gunslingers, outlaws and horse-based transport, and the settlements of the future look like they're straight out fo the Old West as well. I wouldn't be surprised if co-opting the western sets and costumes saved the production some money, or at least made production easier, so it's not an idea without merit.
The film itself, though, has issues.
The non-Carano cast is better than you might expect for low-budget fare like this. For instance, perennial science fiction TV stalwart Ryan Robbins (from Sanctuary and Continuum, as well as recurring roles in a host of other shows such as Arrow, Riverdale and Falling Skies) turns up as the primary antagonist. I'm used to seeing him in more sympathetic, likeable roles, so it was interesting to see him portray a would be criminal tyrant. I don't think he quite had the necessary menace to be truly compelling in this portrayal, but he was decently fun to watch. Jackson's a fairly good villain: educated by the standards of the setting, a thinker and planner. He's more than just a thug. He does goes out like a total chump, though, which rather undercuts the film.
Something else that rather undercuts the entertainment value of the movie is that all of the characters in the film, and the narrative itself, seem very determined to be unpleasant. Gabe's an awful person. So is almost everyone else, but most of them aren't the supposed protagonist. Worse, the one time Gabe shows a moment of generous spirit, the decision nearly gets her killed. It all works out in the end, because the bad guys do the stupid bad guy thing, but it's hard not to read the film's philosophy as 'altruism is a weakness'.
Even if Carano's politics aren't a red line for you, you're betting off skipping this.
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