What happens to society in 'Final Hours'?

<b>Mini-review: 'These Final Hours'</b>

You have to hand it to Australian filmmakers for having the edge on the edge.

Following Aussie director Jennifer Kent's stylized reinvention of the horror film with 2014's "Babadook," Zak Hilditch's unnervingly realistic end-of-the-world drama "These Final Hours" asks this fundamental question: If the world died in 12 hours, would life become more valuable or utterly meaningless?

Like Steve De Jarnatt's impressive 1989 end-of-days drama "Miracle Mile," Hilditch's low-budget sci-fi thriller follows a single man as the clock ticks down on life.

James (Nathan Phillips), a stalwart, muscular young man, finds out his girlfriend is pregnant with his baby just as he decides to bolt in his car, for reasons he may not even be aware of. In short order, he saves an abducted young girl named Rose (Angourie Rice) from two drooling goons who would have been rejected as baddies in the "Mad Max" movies.

Now responsible for the girl, James dedicates his remaining time to reuniting Rose with her family. If he can find them.

"These Final Hours" pulls no punches when it comes to depicting the debauchery and insanity inspired by the Earth's check-out notice. People around Perth, the setting, practically line up to kill themselves before a global big scorch fries the Land Down Under.

Some people kill others with the casual flair of ordering a drink. Most engage in manic, desperate trysts, either in the streets or in a giant backyard orgy organized by one of James' friends.

"These Final Hours" isn't exactly a showcase for actors, but Phillips and Rice rise to the challenges of their roles with transparent, in-the-moment urgency that allows them to postpone thinking about the inevitable.

Sarah Snook, the outstanding Australian actress who elevated the 2014 genre releases "Jessabelle" and "Predestination," provides a sympathetic portrait of a delusional mother who thinks Rose to be her missing daughter, Mandy.

Hilditch has a knack for framing and moving the narrative with the kind of speed one might have with only 12 hours left to shoot.

And despite the movie's willingness to go to the dark places of desperation and fear, Hilditch ultimately errs on the side of what's truly important to us: each other.

"These Final Hours" opens at the South Barrington 30 Theaters. Not rated, but contains coarse language, nudity, drug use, sexual situations and violence. 87 minutes. ★ ★ ★