Beyond the Wasteland - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Beyond the Wasteland



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Post-apocalyptic stories are a dime a dozen in the indie market because of how cheap they are to make. Put a couple of people out in the middle of the woods with no other set pieces, then tell a tale as they walk across the landscape. It’s simple, effective, and generally a solid choice if you have a limited budget. But hey, I’m all for a good dark drama, and couple it with the fact that this would be the ONLY film I’ve ever seen with a Macedonian language track, I was curious enough to check it out.

Originally titled M overseas, it was wisely changed to Beyond the Wasteland after many a cinephile started wondering if it was a remake or reimagining of Fritz Lang’s iconic film of the same name (usually changing a name from the original ends up worse for the film than the original, but in this case, I could see why. The “M” in the original title stood for Marko (Matej Sivakov), a young troubled boy living in the wilderness with his seemingly cruel father (Sasko Kocev). The opening bits show us through Marko’s eyes a father who seems to want to control and manipulate his life, winding in tales of “evils” in the outside world. When Marko meets another child in the wilderness named Miko (Aleksander Nichovski) he thinks he has a friend, only to watch his father shoot Miko’s mother in seeming cold blood.

However, the young child is forced to take responsibility much earlier than expected when a freak incident with the “evils” of the outside world peel back the layers over his eyes, and the audience is clued into the real issue at hand. The back of the film’s description spoils this next bit off the bat so I don’t feel bad about the reveal, but at around the 45-minute mark Marko and the rest of the audience realize that the “evil” that his father (and Miko’s mother) were hiding from are infected zombies. With his father bitten, and Miko’s mother shot, it’s now up to the two young boys to make it to safety and unlock a hidden cure for humanity that Marko seems to carry.

Honestly, this was a lot more fun than I was expecting. Well Go USA sports an interesting variety of films in their “non-Asian” film library, with some of them being fantastic, while others being DTV “meh” that makes me understand why it never got a theatrical showing. However, Beyond the Wasteland is a fun and inventive take on the post-apocalyptic film subgenre. It cleverly hides the reality of the situation until the halfway point, allowing us to see through the unreliable narrator position of young Marko, only for the scales to fall off the eyes of not only Marko but the audience as well with that zombie confrontation. The last act of the movie takes a more direct approach with Miko and Marko taking a bit of a trek, and finding out that Marko’s immunity hides a possible hidden cure for the infected. It’s not super clever, but still works. But the first half of the film is slow-burn greatness. It builds up well as you learn to loathe the father, giving me hints of The Marsh King’s Daughter type gas lighting, only for a very solid twist around the middle that changes your perspective on everything.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

The indie flick is given the standard 2.39:1 AVC encoding most commonly found in films, and like usual, I can’t seem to find ANY information on the filming techniques and master resolution struck for the film at all online. Besides that, this is a nicely shot digital film that mixes noisy dark shots in the brown/green shack, to great looking luscious countryside in the green forest. Outside the forest, things change to more robust browns and ambers, though some shots are still very muted and gray to the eye. There are plenty of issues in the darkest of shots as noise abounds and shadow detail is “meh”, but in the daylight things brighten right up and show some really nice clarity. It may not be perfect, but this is a good-looking experience except for the first few 15-20 minutes where we’re contained in that dimly lit shack.









Audio:

I mentioned this above, but I was actually surprised to see a Macedonian audio track on the disc. Mostly because I don’t think I’ve ever run into a Northern Macedonian film before, so it was a unique experience to hear a language that was entirely new to me. That being said, there’s a smattering of English in a few key scenes, but the vast majority of the flick is entirely in Macedonian. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track sounds fantastic, with tons of surround activity nuance while in the forest, as well as out on the road. You can hear every branch crack in that forest, along with ambient scrapes, creaks, and brushes of leaves upon clothing all the way along. The bass is tight and punchy (such as the gunshots from the Father’s rifle), and overall I can NOT find anything wrong with this track. It’s active, engaging, and has a wonderful sense of ambiance that makes the entire forest area come alive.











Extras:

• Well Go USA Previews
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score:
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Beyond the Wasteland is a solid indie “horror adjacent” type post-apocalyptic thriller that takes inspiration from films like The Road, World War Z, and even bits of The Marsh King’s Daughter at times. It doesn’t exactly break new ground or come out squeaky clean, but it’s a solid take on the genre with decent acting. Especially from the children who seem like actually scared children instead of “actors”. The Blu-ray from Well Go USA is as simple as ever, with good video/audio and the typical anemic extras. Decent Rental would be my final recommendation.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Matej Sivakov, Sasko Kocev, Aleksandar Nichovski
Directed by: Vardan Tozija
Written by: Darijan Pejovski, Vardan Tozija
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Macedonian: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Macedonian DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, French
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 99 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: January 7th, 2025

Recommendation: Decent Rental