Carriers (15, 84 mins)
Stars: Piper Perabo, Chris Pine, Emily VanCamp, and Josh Berry
Directed by Alex Pastor and David Pastor
Rating: 3/5

SIBLINGS Alex and David Pastor write and direct this thriller set in the aftermath of a global pandemic which has devastated the human race.

Carriers explores the moral dilemmas faced by four young survivors of the apocalypse.

Danny leaves behind his dying parents and hits the road in a stolen car with older brother, Brian, and his girlfriend, Bobby, plus school-friend Kate. The quartet stick to the back roads in order to avoid contamination from the incurable virus, but they still encounter a stricken father, Frank, and his infected daughter, Jodie.

They commandeer Frank’s stalled SUV but, taking pity on the man and his girl, Brian and Co tape up the divide between the seats and the boot and consign the father and his infected child to the sealed rear and continue their journey in search of military and medical assistance, but they only find misery.

The Pastors sustain tension well and they send a chill down the spine in a scene at a country club where masked marauders take the youngsters hostage.

Unexpected hairpins in the narrative are a pleasant surprise, proving for once that top billing doesn’t necessarily guarantee you make it alive to the end credits.