Neo Apelian’s short film Karayr imagines an Arab future, where a bioweapon causes human intelligence to regress to a prehistoric state. A sole survivor living in a cave (Jay Abdo) who has retained his intelligence adopts a diminished man (Ahmad Srour) and attempts to civilize him․
The modern man scours cities for other survivors, and sends radio calls trying to make contact with anyone left with their mind intact. One day a prehistoric man stumbles into his cave. The modern man looks after his new companion, treating him partly as a child, but also as a pet. He tries to show him modern ways to reason and solve problems, thinking perhaps the other simply needs the teaching that was lost in the apocalypse.
“… sole survivor of a bioweapon adopts a prehistoric man and attempts to civilize him …”
Karayr explores what it means to be “civilized.” Are we just animals, little more than talking monkeys with the thinnest veneer of civility that would be tossed aside under stress?
Five years in the making, Karayr was filmed in Jordan and presented in Arabic with English subtitles. The relationship between the two characters is very similar to that in Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later films as Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) works to rehabilitate an alpha zombie he calls Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry).
According to the Karayr website: “The film embraced a new movement in storytelling referred to as ‘Arab Futurism’, where we explore the imagined future of our region, to reflect the path we’re currently on.” It is a thought-provoking examination of what humans might be when stripped down to our basic impulses.
Learn more at the official Karayr website.
"…examination of what humans would be stripped down to our basic impulses"
