Roger Ebert was a pro among the film criticism society. So, for a film to affect him to the point that he couldn’t bare to sit through another cinematic experience on the same day says much about the power of the movie he reviewed. That film? The Grey, starring Liam Neeson. The film follows a group of survivors who have been stranded in a frozen tundra and who are being hunted by a pack of ravenous wolves. It’s literally one of the most intense and depressing films ever made, and to say that it’s dark is an understatement. Here’s what he said in the review of the film:
After “The Grey” was over, I watched the second film for 30 minutes and then got up and walked out of the theater. It was the first time I’ve ever walked out of a film because of the previous film. The way I was feeling in my gut, it just wouldn’t have been fair to the next film.
The themes of humanity, survival, existentialism, and mortality rains down like buckets of rocks throughout the film, and heavy doses of gut punches pervade the movie’s running time. It’s easy to see why Ebert couldn’t shake the effects of the film enough to go to another screening.
