The Remaining

Plot summary

Skylar and Dan are happily celebrating their wedding when suddenly the Rapture occurs. Skylar's Christian parents are raptured, leaving their daughter and her new husband behind. She and Dan must find shelter from the new, extreme weather as well as from several winged demons that are keen on making Skylar and Dan their prey. They manage to take shelter in a nearby church along with several others remaining, where they re-examine their lives and personal faith in Jesus Christ, in the wake of remaining on Earth as it enters the seven years of Tribulation. The ending results in the final trumpet being blown from Heaven as thousands upon millions of fallen angels descend to Earth to finish off the human race.

Cast

Production

La Scala was inspired to create The Remaining while working on the film Amityville: The Awakening and visiting the set of Paranormal Activity 5, where he wondered "What would it be like to do a global Paranormal Activity?” After that, La Scala began researching mythologies for the film while also drawing upon his own past Biblical knowledge. He decided to "[follow] the rules of Revelation" and tried to make the film Biblically accurate.

Release

The film opened in the United States on September 5, 2014. In its opening week, the movie grossed $159,143 from a total of 67 screens. In its second week, the screen count increased to 85 and brought in $242,095, a 52% increase (while retaining the film's per-screen average of opening week). The movie dropped for the next two weeks. Even though the movie dropped by 38% in its fourth week, the movie almost doubled its per-screen average compared to opening week. So far, the film has made $1,109,157.

The film also began its international run in both Philippines and Mexico on September 24 and 25, respectively. It expanded shortly thereafter to Argentina, Ecuador, and Bolivia at the start of October. The international total stands at $573,627.

As of October 26, 2014, the film has a worldwide gross of $1,743,230.

Critical reception

Reviews have been predominantly negative. Variety was mixed in their opinion of the film, criticizing it for using overly cliched elements of the found footage genre and for containing "ham-handed" dialogue, speechifying, and proselytizing, while stating that the film might "find an appreciative audience once this small-budget indie finishes its limited theatrical run and is resurrected in homescreen platforms." Commonsensemedia and The Washington Post both panned the film, with the The Washington Post rating the movie at a half star and writing that "There's a fundamental problem here. The movie relies on the instinctual human fear of death, but its message is that dying is a promotion."

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film however currently holds a 56% "rotten" rating.