The Wastelander: Sector 23
2024 · 12m · UK
Directed by Jonathan Bentley
An unnamed wanderer ventures into the desolate Sector 23 in search of the mythical Temple of the Oracle, facing warring mutants, deranged robots, and savage predators in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a 12-year VFX flex that mistakes spectacle for subversion—post-apocalyptic wanderer hunts mythical temple, mutants and robots show up, and Graham McTavish does the gravitas thing. Competent craft service, zero premises that make you say 'wait, WHAT?'
A technically proficient passion project that wears its influences (Mad Max, classic quest narratives) with genuine care, though the formal rigor never quite transcends the sum of its VFX ambitions—admirable restraint in the editing keeps it from bloat, but it doesn't quite argue for itself.
McTavish's underplayed exhaustion in that final Temple approach—barely a flicker, no speech, just a man who's walked twelve years worth of hellscape—is the only choice that matters here, and Bentley lets it breathe instead of drowning it in robot fire.
Reviews
The meticulous attention to detail in costumes, props, and visual effects brings the world to life in a hauntingly vivid manner.
The latest short film by visionary director Jonathan Bentley thrusts viewers into an apocalyptic world.