Twenty students. One teacher. Only 10 can fit into a radiation-proof room in the apocalyptic world. Who would you pick? That is the question posed by director John Huddles in his latest psychological thriller The Philosophers.
Philosophy teacher Mr Zimit (James D'Arcy) challenges his students to a brain-teasing scenario. Each student is assigned a job and a string of personal traits. For example, one student is a doctor who has a contagious disease, while another student is a wine dealer with an IQ of 200.
The students need to decide by the end of class who goes into to the protected facility to ensure the survival of mankind.
The audience is encouraged to mull over the different possibilities with the students, making the film particularly engaging. From a production perspective, the settings - featuring the scenic outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, and the survival chamber - are done well.
Sometimes the pace suffers from not being played out in real time. Yet it is still tonnes more fun than watching a glittery vampire fighting a six-packed werewolf for a girl with a tendency to mope.