Shot straight-on-video, 2013’s My Refuge is a film about the end of the world.

Maybe.

It’s actually somewhat difficult to explain what’s going on in My Refuge.  It’s an ensemble film, one that is apparently taking place in a small city in Arizona.  (That’s according to the plot summary on Tubi.  The film itself doesn’t give us as specific location, though it certainly looks like it’s taking place in the arid Southwest.)  It’s an ensemble film, one that has a dizzying amount of characters.  The majority of the character never meet each other and quite a few are never even named.  After reports come in that New York City (which is pretty far away from Arizona) has been hit with a nuclear bomb, the characters all deal with the impending end of the world in their own way.

One woman quit her retail job and makes plan to finally finish that novel that she started years ago.

One teenage girl overdoses and is rushed to the hospital, where her family watches and prays.

A woman obsessively cleans her house and accuses her husband of having an affair.  Her husband says that he was tempted but he never actually went through with it but, eventually, he decides that being tempted is just as bad.

A criminal seeks revenge on the cop who shot his best friend.

A married couple look forward to the birth of their first child.

A preacher preaches.

The news reports that more bombs are on the way.

People pray in the street and prepare for the unknowable future.

The film’s message is clear.  Even with the world descending into chaos and the end apparently right around the corner, the people in this film find peace and hope through their belief in God.  He is their refuge in terrible times.  The film itself is not as preachy as I probably just made it sound and it deserves some credit for acknowledging that all of the characters have a good reason to be worried about the future.  I mean, nuclear war is a big deal, regardless of what you may believe about the afterlife.

The narrative is difficult to follow.  This is a low-budget,straight-to-video film and it’s pretty clear that the majority of the performers were not professionals.  There’s a lot of awkward line readings and moments that don’t quite make sense.  Everyone tends to blend together.  Normally, I would say that would be a problem for an ensemble film but, oddly enough, it kind of works here.  In the end, everyone is in the same boat.  All of their individual drams are going to reach the same conclusion, regardless of how they may feel about it.

The film is only 79 minutes long but, as is so often the case with earnest , shot-on-video productions, the pace is slow and things aren’t helped by a muddy soundtrack that sometimes makes it a struggle to understand what the characters are saying.  Amateur filmmakers often tend to overlook the importance of clean and understandable sound.

My Refuge is flawed but sincere.  At its best, it captures the shock and fear that would surround any major calamity.  It’s a confusing film but, for many people, these are confusing times.