Revolt

Revolt

Year: 2017

Runtime: 87 min

Language: English

Director: Joe Miale

Echo Score: 60

Budget: $4M

ActionSci-FiWar

Amidst the devastation of war in Africa, a hardened American soldier and a dedicated French aid worker find themselves united by a shared danger. They must overcome their differences and form an alliance to confront an extraterrestrial force threatening all life. Their fight for survival becomes a desperate struggle against overwhelming odds in a landscape of chaos and destruction.

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Revolt (2017) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

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An American Special Forces soldier, Bo, serving in Kenya, suffers memory loss after being knocked unconscious during a battle with highly electrified bipedal robotic machines. He later wakes up in a jail cell wearing tattered fatigues, with nothing but memories of intense pain. In the adjacent cell, he meets Nadia, a French foreign aid military doctor, who explains that he “sounds American” and that they’ve been taken prisoner by a gang of xenophobic thugs. She calls him Bo after noticing the torn name tag, and reveals that the world has been invaded by alien machines that have wiped out the major cities and now hunt down survivors.

After escaping, Bo resolves to reach a U.S. military base somewhere near Nairobi, and Nadia reluctantly joins him. He gradually uncovers fragments of his past while discovering a remarkable power: he can absorb, conduct, and discharge electricity. Their escape from pursuing Kenyan soldiers—who suspect the drones are controlled by the U.S. due to the intact satellite dishes at the base—shows how fragile control over technology has become in this ruined world. In a tense moment, they’re captured again by soldiers who use them as bait for a failed machine-killing operation. At the mercy of three machines, Bo and a hidden Nadia are spared while the machines hunt a fleeing soldier on a motorcycle.

In a crucial encounter, they meet a fatally wounded photojournalist who entrusts Bo with his camera, calling it “digital breadcrumbs” to guide him toward the U.S. military base. The camera proves useful until its batteries die, but the message persists, guiding their steps as they push forward through danger and doubt. Bo and Nadia resume their trek toward safety, and an open field reveals a sprawling army of machines advancing on them. They seek shelter in a solitary dwelling, retreat to the basement, and share a quiet moment of fear and resolve before the world seems ready to swallow them whole.

Bo’s journey continues on a harsher path when he arrives at a ruined Nairobi and collapses from his wounds. He is saved by a group of Nairobi resistance fighters and brought to an underground command center. There, Roderick explains that the aliens gather humans and transport them to a hovering mothership, a vulnerability that could be exploited if the resistance can strike carefully. He reveals a plan to detonate an EMP bomb near the mothership to disable the machines.

A troubling memory returns when Bo studies a sketchbook kept by the resistance. One drawing shows a machine holding a captive in the air, and Bo realizes he was once abducted by a machine and implanted with a device in his spine. This device caused his amnesia but also granted his electrical abilities, turning him into a potential keystone for the fight against the invaders. The resistance scouts warn that the machines have returned in force, and Bo is warned he may be a beacon for the invaders, kept alive to lure humans. Tension runs high as some resistants threaten to kill him on the spot, yet he offers to stay and draw the machines away, recognizing that the bunker’s evacuation is imminent.

Joined by a team of resistance fighters, Bo and [Roderick] carry the EMP bomb through tunnels toward the mothership. They are attacked by infiltrating machines, and Bo’s actions create a path for captive humans to flee while the resistance pushes the EMP device beneath the mothership. The power source of the bomb is damaged in the clash, but Bo uses his own body as a conduit to power the device and detonates it, destroying the mothership and depowering the machines in Nairobi. In the aftermath, the city begins to breathe again as the machines fall silent.

In the closing moments, a recovered Bo regains his memories and is asked for his name. He chooses to be called simply “Bo,” signaling a personal reconciliation with his past and a hopeful start for a future that remains uncertain but winnable. The story leaves the impression that courage and memory—along with a stubborn will to survive—can pierce the darkness of an alien invasion and ignite a spark of resistance that could shape what comes next.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 01:16

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