Brad Anderson’s Worldbreaker opens with a premise that feels intentionally stripped down. A father and daughter living in isolation after the collapse of the world, training not for hope but for inevitability. It is a setup that immediately recalls post-apocalyptic touchstones like A Quiet Place, but Anderson is less interested in constant escalation than he is in mood, restraint, and unease. Sometimes that works beautifully. Sometimes it leaves the film feeling like it is holding back when it should be swinging.
Set after the rise of the Breakers, massive creatures that infect and mutate their victims, Worldbreaker imagines a world where men fell first, and women now lead the war effort. Willa lives on a remote island with her father, a battle-scarred veteran who trains her relentlessly while her mother fights on the front lines. Their fragile routine shatters when a mysterious girl washes ashore, awakening Willa’s longing for connection and setting into motion consequences neither of them can outrun.
The film’s emotional core is the father-daughter relationship, and this is where Worldbreaker is at its strongest. Luke Evans plays Willa’s father as a man defined by preparation and guilt, someone who trains his child not because he wants to, but because the world has left him no other choice. Evans brings weight and sincerity to the role, grounding the film even when the narrative wobbles. His scenes with Billie Boullet feel lived in, shaped by fear, love, and exhaustion rather than melodrama.
Boullet is the real standout. As Willa, she carries the film with a performance that never feels forced. Her fear, curiosity, and quiet defiance register clearly, making it easy to invest emotionally in her journey. Even in silence, she sells the weight of growing up in a world that has already decided her fate. By the time the film reaches its final stretch, Boullet has earned every emotional beat it asks of her.
Visually, Worldbreaker is often striking. The wooded landscapes and desolate beaches are genuinely beautiful, lending the film a melancholic, almost meditative quality. Anderson’s talent for unsettling tone is on full display, especially in quieter moments and in a particularly memorable sequence where Willa’s father recounts a story of Kodiak knocking down trees in the woods. The framing during this scene is subtle but effective, reinforcing the mythic weight of survival stories passed down in a broken world.
The creature design is another high point. The Breakers, despite being large CG creations, look surprisingly effective, evoking smaller, more grotesque echoes of Cloverfield. Their proportions can feel a little strange at times, but they are genuinely unsettling. Even better are the hybrids, where practical effects take center stage. These moments feel tactile and horrific in a way that digital effects rarely achieve, adding real texture to the film’s world.
That said, Worldbreaker can feel frustratingly restrained. There are some well-staged action sequences and a few standout fight moments, but there simply are not enough of them. When the film does cut loose, it is engaging, and in one late sword fight, there is even an unexpected Army of Darkness energy that briefly lightens the film’s otherwise serious tone. Unfortunately, these moments are too few and far between.
The pacing is another mixed bag. Anderson allows scenes to breathe, which helps the atmosphere, but the story occasionally drifts into detours that neither deepen character nor raise tension. The lore is thoughtfully handled, never overexplained, and revealed naturally as the characters encounter it, which is refreshing. Still, there are stretches where the film feels like it is circling its ideas rather than pushing them forward.
There is also the matter of expectations. Milla Jovovich is heavily featured in the marketing, yet her presence in the film is limited. While her eventual reveal is effective and thematically satisfying, some viewers may find the buildup anticlimactic given her prominence on the poster. It is not a bad choice narratively, but it is a slightly misleading one.
Ultimately, Worldbreaker is a film of strong components that do not always fully connect. It has solid performances, genuinely creepy creature work, and an evocative atmosphere. It also feels like a film that might have benefited from either leaning harder into its action or pushing its intimacy even further. Oddly enough, it is easy to imagine a louder, messier version of this story directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, for better or worse.
Still, what Worldbreaker gets right matters. The father-daughter relationship is beautifully portrayed, and Willa’s emotional journey will resonate with many. The ending is solid, the themes land, and the film makes its point without spelling everything out. It may not break new ground in the genre, but it stands as a thoughtful, unsettling survival story anchored by a genuinely compelling young lead.
Jessie Hobson