For the longest time, dystopian future stories focused on one person. They would make friends and even form a pseudo-family (sometimes a sister or uncle would show up for a scene or two), but they were all about one person finding their way. World Breaker is the latest family-oriented post-apocalyptic tale. A dimensional tear has brought creatures known as Breakers into our world. Willa (Billie Boullet) and her father (Luke Evans) live on a remote island and train in order to survive.
The structure of World Breaker will throw a lot of people off. Taking a cue from The Last of Us, the father-daughter dynamic takes center stage. While this is very common nowadays, it is surprising that this is two-thirds of the film almost to the exclusion of everything else. It is an odd choice that barely uses the potentially interesting setting to build the relationship.
Instead of the Rift, Breakers, or Milla Jovovich, almost the entire emphasis is on Willa and Dad. (There is a strong theme of man’s mistreatment of the planet, however.) Boullet and Evans are left to do the heavy lifting in World Breaker, but not in the way that some may expect. It is a surprisingly character-driven adventure.
Boullet and Evans are fine in their respective roles, but it always feels like the story has more to say. This is seen most in the final act of World Breaker. After about an hour of training and worldbuilding, the climax feels rushed. Things simply end, giving the audience only a hint of this destroyed world.
