In this post-apocalyptic thriller, Ashley Judd plays an aunt looking out for her two nieces at their secluded, peaceful home of Lazareth. When a stranger stumbles across their safe haven, the nieces soon learn more about the outside world that they have been sheltered from.
The film opens with a voice-over by Lee (Judd), telling her nieces, Maeve (Sarah Pidgeon) and Imogen (Katie Douglas), a story of a virus that killed a majority of the population. Their home, Lazareth, is secluded in the forests outside of Seattle, which is now in ruins.
The family has a pretty regimented life. Lee takes their old pickup truck into town and scrounges for potential supplies while taking precautions in a hazmat suit. The two girls see to daily chores around Lazareth. One day, when Maeve is out in the woods, she spots Owen (Asher Angel), who is living in a tent, unaware of the family nearby or Lazareth. Initially keeping the discovery to herself, she finally tells Imogen, and their curiosity causes them to approach Owen, whom they realize is hurt and in need of help. When the girls make the decision to take in Owen, he has a turn for the worse, and they try to hide him from Lee while he recovers. Unfortunately for them, that plan goes south pretty quickly, and they get scolded for bringing him to their sanctuary and are reminded of the dangers that still exist outside Lazareth.
Maeve sits at a tense, candlelit dinner table in Lazareth.
“One day, when Maeve is out in the woods, she spots Owen (Asher Angel), who is living in a tent, unaware of the family nearby or Lazareth.”
As Owen slowly recovers, a divide starts to happen between Maeve and Imogen. Imogen seems to be giddy over their new houseguest, while Maeve resents his presence and her sister’s new attitude with him there. Lee wants him to leave, but Imogen protests that he can fix their truck, which has broken down. The family, along with Owen, hides when a band of strangers comes across the home. Lee now has a better understanding that their arrival wasn’t coincidental and that Owen’s injury was because of them. He’s put the family in harm’s way. To make amends, Owen does indeed fix their truck, and Lee accepts him into the family.
Owen’s presence and the invasion by the outsiders start to cause a restlessness in Maeve, who wants to join her aunt on her next excursion into town, to which Lee tells her, “No.” When Lee makes her next supply run, Maeve hides herself in the back of the truck, and only then does she learn what truth awaits her there.
"…people buying guns and hoarding toilet paper."
