Every 200 to 300 years, the tectonic plates along the San Andreas Fault in California release the stress built up during that time. That means an earthquake is certain at some point. But when? Seismologists predict that an earthquake of devastating force could occur before 2035. This poetic, free-associative essay film takes us on a road trip along the fault, with the car radio tuned to a local prison station offering words of consolation.
Images of the awe-inspiring landscapes are interwoven with archival footage and interviews with people along the way, each with their own fears and dreams. There’s a prepper who is determined to stay as fit as possible; a person who survived an earthquake as a child; a deaf man who, like animals, can sense an earthquake coming; and a paleo-seismologist who apologizes to the Earth’s crust for chipping away at its rocks. The Earth itself also has a voice, rumbling ominously on the soundtrack. Waiting for “The Big One” becomes a spiritual state of being—an acceptance of one’s fate.
Stills
