Greed, materialism. A world where opportunities are scarce and a piece of gold can change life forever. Or not. This is kind of the message of the movie Gold, directed by Anthony Hayes(who also acts in the film) and starring Zack Efronwho takes off his popular boy suit to show himself on the edge between life and death.
Gold could be defined as a survival thriller that follows the deterioration of a man, Virgil (Efron), more than ambitious, in a hostile geography. In the middle of the Australian desert this man along with Keith (There is) go to a place where they are going to work. In a kind of dystopian reality, these men with no destiny and uncertain past will stumble upon a gold mine. Thus, before reaching their destination, they decide between the two of them what they will do in the face of that treasure that is presented to them before their eyes.
Faced with the impossibility of loading the gold manually, they decide to go in search of a kind of crane that allows them to unearth all the precious material in order to finally become millionaires. In this way, while one decides to go in search of the crane (Keith), his traveling companion chooses to stay looking after the gold. But the place is inhospitable to survive for a long time: the sun does not let up, the water is non-existent and the food is only enough for a couple of days. But still, Virgil decides to stay. Anything to get the treasure.
Gold recounts the ordeal experienced by this man who decides to stay watching his most precious possession and how he will endure hunger, the burns on his body, the nightly attack of dogs voracious for human flesh as long as he can fulfill his dream. The life of this man is reduced to nothing.
Most of the film is staged by Efron who conveys in the best way the abandonment, loneliness and madness involved in this adventure to win gold. The threats do not take long to appear and this man will be subjected to the extreme conditions of life in the desert, which cracks his skin to the extreme (full of blisters, without hydration, which despairs just by seeing it) and exposes him to storms invasive sand. The appearance of a female character, played by the actress Susie Porter (The Monkey´s Mask), far from being a company, pushes this man’s sanity to the limit.
The film leaves pending accounts regarding the characters about how they got there, what their past is, where they come from, where they are going or why the central character has a scar that crosses his face (question asked in the film and is not resolved or answered). Neither is the issue of climate change, which remains on hold, nor is access to the most basic natural resources addressed. But Gold maintains the suspense and despair generated by the situation of this man who invites the viewer to wait for a resolution that is halfway done.
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Zac Efron’s chilling movie where greed leads him to extreme situations