The Colony is a 2013 Canadian science fiction horror film directed by Jeff Renfroe and starring Kevin Zegers, Laurence Fishburne & Bill Paxton. The movie is set in the near future where world that has been ravaged by bitter cold weather that has wiped out the majority of life on earth. Also starring are Charlotte Sullivan, Atticus Dean Mitchell, Lisa Berry & Dru Viergever.

In the near future the earth suffers another ice age that wipes out most of humanity, animal & wildlife. The earth is snow covered and desolate with the survivors living in underground bunkers and struggling as very little food grows down there. The underground bunkers act like outposts in a hostile world and the colonies as they are called keep in touch with each other via long distance radio transmitters. Colony # 7 is run by former soldiers Briggs, who is in overall command and Mason who is in charge of security of their bunker. The colonies also have a rule when it comes to illness – in order to avoid flu spreading amongst the residents, the ill are immediately quarantined and in a couple of days if they are not better, are either shot or made to walk outside away from the bunker. The movie starts off with Mason, going against the rules, killing a sick man as he says that the sick just keep coming back, begging to be let in.

It is then that they get a distress call from Colony 5; however further contact is not possible. Briggs, Sam & Graydon set out to check on the colony and walk 2 days in the snow. On arrival they find the floors are stained with blood. Lots of blood and the bunker seems abandoned. In a closed room they find an almost derange survivor, Leyland, who shows them a message from a group of people who fixed the weather machine and have caused the snow to thaw. The group offers aid to anyone and asks that they bring seeds so they can be planted in the newly thawed soil. Leyland shows them where the signal came from but informs them that a Colony 5 expedition failed to return. Moreover, the expedition’s tracks led a group back to Colony 5 and the killing ensued. Briggs, Sam, and Graydon force Leyland to return with them but he pushes them out and locks himself back into his room. The three go on further, led by a chopping noise and find a large room with a fire burning and a human chopping up the residents of Colony 5 while others, cannibals, eat the flesh. The cannibals are the ones who tracked the footprints and came to Colony 5. Disgusted by what they see the 3 of them try to leave but Graydon is caught and killed by the cannibals. Briggs and Sam are able to make it up the ladder out of the colony and destroy the shaft with a stick of dynamite and make their way back home. Taking shelter for the night in an abandoned helicopter, they wake up the next morning to find that the cannibals have made their way out and are following their footsteps in the snow.

Briggs suggests that they lose the group over a bridge using dynamite. Due to the cold weather though, the dynamite fuse goes out. Briggs is able to make it back but not before he is confronted by the cannibals. He lights the fuse and sacrifices himself to enable Sam to return to Colony 7. Sam makes it to Colony 7 before collapsing and is handcuffed as soon as he comes to. He tells Mason and the others that the cannibals will reach them soon but his words are dismissed as ramblings caused by the shock of the harsh environment outside. However, a while later the cannibals arrive and attack the colony, taking out their security grid. Sam is able to get free and along with is girlfriend Kai collects a few seeds in an attempt to leave the Colony. The colony is ravaged by the cannibals and many die. In the battle Sam is attacked and is forced to kill the leader of the cannibals and when a lone Mason is about to be attacked by several cannibals he blows up a propane tank killing a bunch of them, including himself. Sam, Kai and a handful of survivors gather their sparse belongings and the seeds they have recovered and leave the destroyed colony and try and make it to the thawed-out location.

The movie could have ended better. Made on a $16 million budget, it still has decent effects and settings (the dimly light interiors of the cannibal infested colony 5 is almost beautiful in shots) and fairly decent CGI. They have a solid cast but the movie is nothing great or memorable. The story has been done before and will be done again. There’s nothing to make it unique or make you want to rewatch it. I’m tore between 6.5 and 7 for this movie. And I’m going to keep it that way.