John Turner

This is a better episode of Dr Who than Dr Who has produced in years!

Largely forgotten today, this film shows us the world ending in a Christian context, a decade before Kevin Smith's Dogma and without a trace of condescension. Mimi Rogers does terrific work as the woman who goes from aimless Sybarite to true believer to apocalypse participant in solid, believable steps. The ending is harrowing and accomplished without a single CGI effect.

Eerily parallels current events; as thousands die of a disease, the powerful party! party! party! like nothing is wrong. COVID-19 even turns people's faces red, a condition called "ideopathic erythrosis". First responders and care workers have learned this symptom marks even otherwise asymptomatic cases. It's the "Corona Glow". Life imitates art?

I'm partial to superpower films where the powers come not just with responsibility but with cost. Actual functional story, great casting, action that's magical realistic not cartoon physics. And no sloppy Hollywood eye candy: no gratuitous wire fu or let's-all-fight-in-pairs-for-a-while or CGI-driven 'rollercoaster' sequences. Code 8 has everything it should and nothing it shouldn't.