Sole Survivor (2000 film)


Sole Survivor also known as Dean Koontz's Sole Survivor is a Canadian science fiction Thriller film/mini-series adaptation of Dean Koontz's novel of the same name, made and released in 2000 and directed by Mikael Salomon.

Plot

After the death of his wife and daughter in a plane crash, a newspaper reporter named Joe Carpenter discovers that the crash may have been related to a nefarious scientific experiment involving children. A woman, Rose Tucker, who claims she was a survivor of the crash, approaches at his wife's grave. This leads into a plot by the Quartermass organization to capture her and a young girl she is protecting - the girl has the powers to heal and to transport. A villainous killer named Victor Yates and a young boy who can control minds from a distance lead the attack.
Tucker and Carpenter realize that Yates was once a CIA agent turned mercenary for the United States government, who was then hired to kill the scientists that were working on the projects at The Quartermass Organization, genetically engineering children to become weapons for the next decade. Carpenter also realizes that his wife and daughter were the victims of an experiment gone wrong. Donner, an agent for the Bureau, comes to their aid, not knowing he's a Quartermass agent. After killing Donner, they seek refuge at the home of Carpenter's friends, the Ealings.
After hearing their story, the Ealings help Carpenter sneak inside the Organization and save the children being held hostage. Tucker dies of her injuries. Yates tells Carpenter that he didn't mean for anyone to get hurt during the plane crash and that he is sorry for what has happened. Carpenter will forgive him if he helps save the children. Dewey, the psychic boy who destroyed the plane, kills Yates, as he now knows he would. Joe and the girl are on the run and the boy dies. However, the girl shows a vision to Carpenter where his wife and daughter say goodbye to him one last time and they love him very much. Carpenter thanks her and both of them start a new life elsewhere.

Differences between the novel and the film

In the novel the Ealings help Tucker with her injuries by taking her to the hospital, while in the film she dies of her injuries.
In the novel Yates is ambushed in the bathroom of the building by Carpenter, while in the film Yates is killed by Dewey, the boy with psychic powers.

Cast

The film was nominated, in the company Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for a Saturn Award for Best Single Genre Television Presentation in 2001.