Mikes Film Talk

Writer/Director Piotr Biedron gives us the 2023 film The Last Spark of Hope. This film is, in essence, a Polish Sci Fi tale dressed in English. Initially, it made me think of the 1975 film A Boy and His Dog. Only in the fact that there are two protagonists in both films but no one is telepathic in this one. *The 1975 film features a very young Don Johnson of Miami Vice fame. I saw it in a drive in as part of a Sci Fi night. It played after the 1974 feature Zardoz. It was a night for odd films.*

The Last Spark of Hope Story

The world has been destroyed by Climate Wars. The only way to survive is to live above the contaminated surface. A young woman lives on a mountain top with a robot as company. She believes herself to be the last person on Earth. Suddenly, the robot and the woman have a problem. She must fight the robot to survive.

The Cast

Magdalena Wieczorek is Eva.

Jacek Beler is the voice of the robot.

*Side note: Wieczorek has become a new favorite actress. She does an admirable job acting against a moving tin can. Kudos.*

Let’s Talk The Last Spark of Hope

This is a low/no budget science fiction film. The robot resembles Disney’s Wall-E but taller and less sophisticated looking. *The rubber covering around the things neck, bothered the heck out of me. Would a technologically advanced world use something like that?*

Despite my misgivings about the robot, after all the world Eva and her metal friend inhabit is pretty derelict. The two seem pretty simpatico. Eva gives the password each and every time the robot asks for it. Even though, the robot clearly recognizes her. This will become a problem later.

At one point Eva asks the robot to recite the “rules.” *These are the great science fiction author Isaac Asimov’s Robotic Rules.* The first rule is that robots are not allowed to harm humans. Yet, as Eva points out, during the wars, robots; specifically this one, killed hundreds of humans. All of which were seeking sanctuary from the battles going on around them.

Eva believes that she is the last human alive on Earth. Yet she holds out hope that someone else shares this relic of a planet.

The set is impressive. Although, once again, there are issues. The amount of nuclear power plants beggars belief. Unless it is one power plant with multiple silos?

It’s Not a Game

Sadly for Eva, she treats the entire password thing like a game. She is initially bemused by the requests, later she will regret not taking this more seriously. Eva is locked out of her base and cannot get to water. She plays tricks on the robot and this is ultimately her biggest mistake.

Once Eva realizes that she is not going to get water from the robot, she searches for some. This is the moment we realize that dehydration is affecting her rational thinking.

The Last Spark of Hope Backstory

Eva relates, via her voice over, that the world’s rich and powerful fled the planet via rocket ships. She believes that they are all dead from “radioactive poisoning,” as they had no destinations. At no time does she intimate that other less rich and powerful folks survived the climate wars. Her hope has waned but she still sends out radio calls to any other people on the planet.

It Just About Works

The Last Spark of Hope just about works. Unfortunately, it feels too much like The Last Man on Earth, AKA; The Omega Man or even Elevation. *The Omega Man was remade with Will Smith but it lacked the faithfulness to the original story by Richard Matheson.* In this case, Eva is the last woman on Earth, sans the vampires.

Ultimately, The Last Spark of Hope is a major downer. It is, in the end, a tragedy.

The Verdict

Regardless of the depressing nature of the film’s last half, The Last Spark of Hope is a solid 3.75 stars. It is not “edge of your seat viewing,” but the film does captivate your interest despite its obvious low budget. There are issues, of course, but taken separately, some of the problems make a certain sense. Although that rubber neck covering and the overall design of the robot still bothers the heck out of me.

The Last Spark of Hope is streaming on Tubi and Plex right now.

The Trailer