London’s Last Wilderness

This film could be a contentious as the filmmakers have included Canvey Island, therefore by implication, a ‘wilderness.’ It’ll be interesting to hear what the inhabitants have to say.

Leaving aside that potential faux pas, London’s Last Wilderness is to all intents a documentary taking the viewer through the Thames estuary to London, by way of an alien on a return visit.

Using a mixture of drones and boats, the alien recounts his journey to a colleague (Marcus Darivas and Anastasia Pillar respectively), presumably back on the home planet. His comments are supported on screen by the geographical and navigational positions.

From the first scene the photography is beautiful. Capturing the bleakness, life and weirdness of the area succinctly with little drama.

The rotting boats and abandoned hulks on the estuary have a quiet festering attraction. The dilapidated concrete defences that litter the shoreline are complemented by the Maunsell Forts off Red Sands. The images of those structures naturally trigger references to War of the Worlds. That may be a cliché but doesn’t take anything away from their unnerving presence off the coast.

Pushing further on war images are the wrecks that litter the estuary, one still containing high explosives. Then there’s the mass burial site as the Medway is crossed.

The wildlife of the estuary isn’t ignored but maybe not given the importance it should. What is made clear is the environmental situation and the toxicity of the waters and the dumping that still happens.

Writer and director Pablo Behrens, for the most part, he concentrates on the majesty and power of the air and sea. There are some wonderful images of the early morning fog with the sun struggling to cut through it. As we get closer to London (or The Citadel) the environmental issues become more prominent.

There is a problem with the narration in that at times it becomes stodgy and purple prose i.e. The Citadel. Behrens has the reputation of being an experimentalist so some slack can be cut there for trying to do something different. But there’s the nagging thought that the dour splendour of the Thames Estuary didn’t need any kind of narration.

London’s Last Wilderness will be in UK cinemas from 24 April 2026.