What makes The Domestics differ from the many other post-apocalyptic stories and movies? Not much.
In the not-so-distant-future, the United States government sprays toxic gas over the entire country. Why isn’t spelled out but it’s hinted that the government changed from a democracy to a dictatorship. Those that manage to survive either form gangs or attempt to make it on their own. The gangs hunt down, rob, and kill those that can’t protect themselves. There is safety in numbers and the odds are in the gangs’ favor. Those that don’t join gangs are called The Domestics.
Husband and wife Mark (Tyler Hoechlin) and Nina (Kate Bosworth) are a pair of domestics on the verge of divorce. They’re embarking on a dangerous trip from Minneapolis to Milwaukee. Stocked up on supplies — including weapons, food, and gasoline — they avoid the sniper-laden highways and stick to the back roads. Nina’s parents live in Milwaukee and they haven’t been heard from in weeks. Mark hopes to save his marriage by making the perilous excursion to find out what has happened to them.
Of course, they encounter dangers of all types — expected and unexpected — on their journey. And, it’s those brushes with death that make up the core of the movie.
The Domestics combines healthy dollops of action, gore, and post-apocalyptic mayhem into a fast-paced story. Filmed on a low-budget, the scope of the movie never widens beyond the perspective of Mark and Nina. Writer/director Mike P. Nelson keeps their story interesting enough so that’s never an issue. Information about the rest of the world comes from a radio DJ named Crazy Al, who broadcasts news and music to surviving domestics looking to avoid the gangs.
The cartoonish gangs have names like The Nailers, The Sheets, and The Cherries. And, like the gangs in 1979’s The Warriors, they each have appropriate costumes, logos, and territories. They’re the least believable element in a movie that features a mass poisoning of the U.S. by B-52 bombers. The script features a few surprises in role-reversal that are more than welcome, though. Tyler Hoechlin and Kate Bosworth don’t have much chemistry, so the state of their characters’ relationship generates little empathy. But they’re at least likable enough that we hope they get out of the situations they manage to get into as they navigate Wisconsin’s back roads.
What makes The Domestics differ from the many other post-apocalyptic stories and movies? Not much. While it doesn’t stand out from films like The Road, Mad Max, or even Love and Monsters, it’s well-made, reasonably well-acted, and never gets too serious. If you find yourself with the opportunity to see it, take advantage of it. That is, unless one of the aforementioned movies is also available. Then skip it.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
