Despite regular adrenaline spikes, this post-apocalyptic action movie also reminiscent of Gareth Edwards’s Monsters is too derivative to develop an identity of its own

An efficient post-apocalyptic thriller, Elevation subscribes to the Quiet Place school of action streamlining: in this case, the remaining 5% of humanity must stay above an 8,000ft line; any lower, and they are prone to being set upon by Reapers, the giant insects that have conquered the planet. It is also reminiscent of Gareth Edwards’s Monsters in the way it frugally reveals its shield-bug-like monsters, and it has an intriguing enough final twist to suggest that a viable franchise might be on the cards.

Will (Anthony Mackie) lives in an isolated community at altitude with his son Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr). With everyone merely subsisting like “rats on a sinking ship”, he has to head down the mountain when the supply of air filters for Hunter’s asthma runs out; his route to Boulder, Colorado, only involves dipping below 8,000ft twice. So he ropes in embittered alcoholic scientist Nina (Morena Baccarin) – who thinks the research she left behind in the city might hold the key to defeating the critters – and his ballsy friend Katie (Maddie Hasson) to watch his back.