George Nolfi’s Elevation is the latest in a long line of post-apocalyptic survival thrillers, following in the well-worn footsteps of A Quiet Place and Bird Box, where humanity has been pushed to the brink by an unstoppable force. This time, it’s not sound-sensitive extraterrestrials or unseen psychological horrors, but towering, insectoid creatures known as Reapers that have driven humans to extinction-level crisis. Their one weakness is that they inexplicably don’t, or won’t, venture above 8,000 feet.

It’s an interesting idea, and one that offers a fresh variation on the genre’s usual rules of survival. Instead of keeping quiet or avoiding eye contact, the last remnants of humankind have taken refuge in the mountains, forming isolated pockets of society in places like Lost Gulch Refuge, a Colorado settlement perched high above the danger zone. It’s here we meet Will (Anthony Mackie), a father trying to provide for his young son,...