These Final Hours asks the big questions
What would you do with 12 hours left to live?
That's the question posed by an Australian apocalyptic movie, These Final Hours, and it had the cast and writer/director Zak Hilditch mulling over their own answers.
Actor Nathan Phillips, who many would remember from horror flick Wolf Creek, thinks he would do the opposite to his self-absorbed character, who is hell-bent on getting to "the party to end all parties".
"I would just be with the family at home. Already have my big questions asked about heaven and hell," Phillips tells AAP.
"Just (have) a good bit of tucker."
Same goes for Hilditch, who just wants to be surrounded by loved ones, good food and booze.
But actress Jessica De Gouw doesn't think she would be quite as composed as Zoe, who lets James leave after revealing she's pregnant with his child.
"I'd probably go on a James bender," she admits.
Regardless of your answer, De Gouw says with so many apocalyptic films around, it's obviously a topic that pushes buttons.
"It's clearly something that is, has been and I think, will be, always an anxiety collectively that people want to talk about," she says.
Hilditch, who was inspired by 28 Days Later, thinks These Final Hours is unique because it forces people to reflect on their own lives and "what you would do if the chips were down".
Writers are often told to "write what you know", so it's no coincidence James and Hilditch have a few similarities.
They both live in Perth, where Hilditch was born and bred, and are in similar phases of their life.
"The idea of saying goodbye to your 20s and hello to your 30s and mature thinking and responsibility. That's definitely an element of James's journey," Hilditch says.
"I could've chosen any character to explore on the last day on earth, but I wanted to something that was personal and real, and as authentic as I could get it."
Then he thought, who would be the worst person to appear for a guy shunning the idea of fatherhood? A little girl.
Hence James saves young Rose (Angourie Rice) from the clutches of some unsavoury types and suddenly finds himself en route to the epic party, with a kid in tow.
To try and explain how off-the-wall this particular party would be, Hilditch told people to imagine the most torrid, worst Australia Day party you can think of.
"This is an Australia Day party on steroids," he says of the debauched shenanigans.
And being on that set, packed with extras who just kept getting more and more into it, was impressive.
"It was just moving chaos, but everyone was so dedicated and so excited," he says.
"You wouldn't believe it was a dry set that day."
* These Final Hours releases in Australian cinemas on July 31
