Population 436
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Population 436 |
| Original title | Population 436 |
| Country of production | Canada , USA |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2006 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michelle Maxwell MacLaren |
| script | Michael Kingston |
| production | Gavin Polone |
| music |
Glenn Buhr Greg Russell |
| camera | Thomas Burstyn |
| cut | Gabriel Wrye |
| occupation | |
| |
Population 436 is a Canadian - American Mystery - Thriller Canadian director Michelle Maxwell MacLaren , which premiered in the US on 13 March 2006 and was released in Germany on July 4 of 2006.
action
Steve Kady works for the Census Bureau and was sent to the rural town of Rockwell Falls to find out why it has had exactly 436 residents for over 100 years. Shortly after the city limits, Kady's car gets a tire damage and it is not possible to continue driving. A young woman riding a horse nearby refuses to help. Resident policeman Bobby Caine reluctantly takes him into the village after consulting his superior, and he is billeted with a family with an adult daughter named Courtney, the rider at the entrance to the village.
In the days that followed, he noticed on the one hand that the exact same number of inhabitants was actually recorded in the city's books every year, and on the other hand that the town's inhabitants were secretive towards him when he wanted to ask them about it. Courtney also seems to have a secret, and although Caine wants to become engaged to her, an affair between Kady and her looms. Kady is also plagued by nightmares every night.
After some time in the city, without any contact with the outside world, Kady succeeds in gaining more information about what is going on in the city. A mysterious febrile illness is mentioned repeatedly that affects many residents at some point. All leads lead to the town's doctor, Dr. Greaver, who treats the residents and, according to documents, has been doing so for many decades. The young girl Amanda is locked up with him. She is not allowed to talk to other people due to alleged schizophrenia. A little later, Kady uses a trick to escape surveillance by the villagers and so arrives at Amanda, who shows him a surgical scar on her head.
In the evening a big festival is celebrated in the village, and that's because of him, as he learns. When a gallows is unveiled and a woman is hanged on the gallows who asserts that she is deeply delighted with this honor, Kady also realizes the secret of the cult, loses her nerve and is beside herself: the population is determined by the mayor and the sheriff always kept at 436 people, which is the number of residents who lived there during the heyday of Rockwell Falls. Anyone who wants to leave the city is brainwashed. Those who initially managed to escape were apparently killed by God while trying. The villagers then surround and overwhelm him, and Dr. Greaver uses a brainwashing procedure to try to get rid of Kady's thoughts of escape. Courtney, who last sided with him and wants to escape Rockwell Falls too, is jailed. After the procedure, Kady escapes. He frees Amanda and drives her to the house of Courtney, who asked Kady to take her with him in case he escaped from Rockwell Falls. However, he finds that she has undergone a lobotomy and no longer has any such plans.
He manages to escape from town with the girl after Bobby shoots a colleague who was trying to stop her. After a short drive, he discovers a cross in the car that also appeared in his nightmares. When he looks up again, a huge truck approaches him, which he can no longer avoid. He and the girl die in the accident.
The 436 inhabitants are soon complete again: a colleague of Kady's work friends who wanted to pay this a visit visits the village, as well as twins, who are being born in Rockwell Falls at that moment, restore the fixed number of inhabitants.
Alternative ending
The DVD version features an alternative ending that allows Amanda's and Kady's escape to end harmoniously: Kady prevents the collision with the truck at the last second.
Reviews
"Excitingly developed, visually appealing mystery thriller that makes ends meet the dark story without the bloodbaths typical of the genre."
Web links
- Population 436 in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Population 436 of Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Population 436. In: Lexicon of international films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .