Surviving Earth Review: Pain Is A Drug

With honesty, slick production and a terrific lead, Surviving Earth is a heartfelt and attention-grabbing feature debut for Thea Gajic.

This time is precious, a moment when life seemed good for Vlad, and people in general, free of international strife and a pervading sense of depression. As we learn, Vlad’s had his share of that. A veteran of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, Vlad came to Britain to improve his lot. Feature debut director Thea Gajic paints the world her lead inhabits in bright colours, before they start to fade behind the consequences of his own actions and addictions, and his and our world would begin to fall apart.

There’s precious little any given writer or director can do to bring a new perspective to a topic like addiction. Films as forceful as Trainspotting or Requiem For A Dream overwhelm this subject with their energy and evocation of the grim truths of this habit. Gajic deserves credit for refusing to go down a similar path. Surviving Earth doesn’t aim for subversion, instead finding strength in a tightly focused character study, telling a particular story with all the heart it can muster. Of course, when the story being told comes from the director’s experiences with her father, the enthusiasm is understandable. What results is familiar but stylish, rendered by a cast and crew that understand the painful drive behind Gajic’s vision. 

Vlad plays his harmonica with vim, undermining its associations with the blues to reflect the apparently boundless energy he finds in life. He could be down and out if he so chose; regular gigs are hard to come by, and he only sees Maria on occasion as she lives with her mother, Vlad’s ex (Ann Ogbomo). The first act of Surviving Earth establishes Vlad’s situation in detail, as he shuffles between work, rehearsals, and maintaining his home life. Gajic’s script locates Vlad in relatable situations, from falling behind on his rent to stressful calls to family back home. However, the tone is leavened somewhat by the stellar cinematography from Olan Collardy. Despite the different genre and tone, he brings the same touches of colour to Vlad’s apartment and gigs as those that popped off the shopfronts of Peckham in Rye Lane.

It is the effervescent filmmaking that keeps Surviving Earth on an even keel when the second act sees Vlad succumb to some of the pressures in his life. Temptations of vice threaten from the sidelines, and all it takes is one bad day to set a man on the wrong path. After an alcohol-fuelled night of regret and increasing pressures from his various responsibilities, Vlad feels the urge to move back to the harder drugs that ruled his life. In portraying these steps off the wagon, Gajic strikes a clever balance; her script refuses to judge Vlad, but her direction veers somewhere between concerned eavesdropping and safely distant observation. As with Vlad’s friends and daughter, getting too close risks his pain and anger spilling out. As Vlad makes efforts to repair the damage in his life, including returning to AA meetings, the outcome is up in the air, keeping the audience rapt by refusing to choose life or death until it absolutely has to.

Gajic knows her film could have sunk under the weight of its material, but her efforts to keep it kinetic are helped greatly by Sobin’s lead performance. His tall build hints at Vlad’s military background, but also surprises by being a canvas for so much pain and vulnerability. As Vlad begins to engage in self-destructive behaviour, from misdirecting his anger at Maria, to walking out of band rehearsals, sympathy for Vlad could easily be lost. This is a risk for most films dealing with addiction, but the script and Sobin emphasize his tenderness, and the need for human contact that keeps him on the straight and narrow. Both are also frank in showing those same attributes as potential weaknesses; Vlad is only as strong as the people around him, and the most vicious aspect of this particular cycle is how difficult it can be to love people who need that love the most.

Surviving Earth fights the same battle as poor Vlad: keeping people onside while plumbing deeper and darker material as it goes. Gajic and her cast recognize the challenge, and meet it by being upfront, while refusing to be morose. Surviving Earth may not reinvent the wheel, but its emotional honesty and excellent production values make it more approachable and appreciable than some of its more provocative kin.

Surviving Earth will be released in cinemas in the U.K. on April 24, 2026.