Movie Review – Amazing Plot Similarities Between "Seraphim Falls (2006)" and "Apocalypto (2006)"

By Ugur Akinci

Since I watch a lot of movies, sometimes I see fascinating parallels and similarities between different films, both in terms of general themes and specific plot points.

In some cases, they are different movies by the same director and the THEMATIC similarities are understandable.

Take Woody Allen’s “Crime and Misdemeanors (1989)” and “Match Point (2005)” for example. To me, these are basically the same (and excellent!) movies shot in different settings (New York and London) and with different plot points.

But the “theme,” the “essential idea” of both films are identical – what happens to our morality and spiritual values when murderers get away with homicide?

Even worse – what does God “have to say” when murderers continue with their lives as though nothing has happened? What if the most important factor in our lives was dumb luck and there were no “divine justice”?

For those who have followed Allen’s work, it is not surprising to see those kind of burning questions pop up in different films.

When, however, two totally unrelated films by different directors and writers share a good number of PLOT POINTS and devices, I can’t help but marvel at the power of collective sub-consciousness. How else one can explain the similarities?

Here are two such films, both released in 2006.

One of them is the widely distributed Mel Gibson film “Apocalypto (2006)”, directed by Gibson and written by Gibson and Farhad Safinia.

The other is a lesser-known work that I found at my local Block Buster store: “Seraphim Falls (2006)” directed by David Von Ancken and written by David Von Ancken and Abby Everett Jaques.

Apocalypto, released on December 8, 2006 takes place in 16th century jungles of South America and on the surface it is about how the Mayan civilization has destroyed itself through barbaric practices of slave trade and human sacrifice. But I think the movie is really about its strong sub-plot: how we can all face our fears and overcome them.

Seraphim Falls, released about 7 months earlier on April 13, 2007, is a western taking place in 1868, right after the American civil war. It’s a film about revenge and its futility. In that sense, the resolution is a lot like the last scene of “The Crossing Guard (1995).”

But here are the plot similarities between the two (WARNING -- some plot points are revealed):

Both films are essentially a two-hours long chase sequence.

In both films the main character is chased by a posse (7 in Apocalypto and 5 in Seraphim Falls) of determined killers.

In both films the main character is wounded by a shot (arrow in Apocalypto and bullet in Seraphim Falls) and runs through the whole movie grimacing in pain.

In both films the main character somehow heals his wound on his own while still on the run.

In both films the main character crosses a raging river (as a captured slave in Apocalypto and falling across a waterfall in Seraphim Falls).

In both films the main character manages to kill all members of the posse except 2 (in Apocalypto) or 1 (in Seraphim Falls).

In both films one of the posse members suffer a horrible impaling death after stepping on a booby trapped device in the forest.

In both films, an animal (“jaguar” in Apocalypto and ”horse” in Seraphim Falls) figures prominently as an integral part of the story.

In both films, after a long journey, the main character stumbles upon a busy encampment where a lot people labor in dirt and dust (a lime quarry in Apocalypto and a railroad construction site in Seraphim Falls).

In both films, the camera treats us to various scenes of “local color” at the encampment, with close ups on “interesting characters.”

In both films, we see a character stealing food from one of the open vending stalls at the encampment.

In both films there is a scene where people perform a lively night dance around a camp fire.

In both films, we see a shot of the full moon up in the night sky.

In both films human beings are killed by knives, followed by bloody evisceration.

In both films animals (a tapir in Apocalypto and a horse in Seraphim Falls) are eviscerated with knives.

In both films, the main character’s home/village is burned to the ground by the enemy.

Both films start in a mountain forest/jungle and end at a flat landscape (the beach in Apocalypto and the desert in Seraphim Falls).

I take these parallels as just a fascinating example of how different minds actually work in parallel tracks. Watch both these fine movies and decide for yourself.

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Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a senior writer and web content consultant with 20 years of experience.

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