Synopsis
The Quiet Earth centers around a scientist called Zac who wakes one morning to discover he is alone in the world. The global top-secret energy project which he has been working on for a year, has changed the world. Humanity seems to have been wiped out. Zac begins a frantic search for other survivors. At the same time he has the chance to live out his fantasies. In a world where excess and wealth have no meaning, he switches from dwelling to dwelling and vehicle to vehicle. But he soon realizes the emptiness and loneliness of his nightmare situation. ? have been condemned to live?he says. The discovery of two survivors, first a woman, and then a man sets the scene for a critical struggle for survival. Zac? attraction for the woman is threatened by the presence of the man. Yet despite feelings of antagonism between the two men, the three characters band together under the growing realization that the forces unleashed by the experiment have created an instability in the universe. The Effect - or tilt f the fourth dimension - which struck at the exact moment of death for each of the three characters, is destined to happen again. The two men calculate that only by blowing up the satellite station where the experiments have been carried out, will they destroy the grid and prevent the Effect from occurring again. Together they load a huge articulated truck with dynamite and heads for the station, but they find they can? get close enough because of radiation. What happens next is an extraordinary and unpredictable series of events. (production notes)