Starring Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Zegers. Rating not available.

The Colony is set in an underground bunker in the future. The colony’s inhabitants have been forced to live like glorified sewer rats thanks to apocalyptic climate change. Attempting to survive aboveground for any length of time is a death sentence. There’s no sun and it won’t stop snowing.

Survivors of the new order fear everything from the flu to dwindling provisions. The sick and weak are given a choice: get shot execution-style by Mason (Bill Paxton), the colony’s brutal enforcer, or take a long walk in the snow.

Still, life could be worse. The tight-knit community is held together by the wise leadership of Briggs (Laurence Fishburne), an ex–military man who’s mindful to preserve some sense of humanity while maintaining order. His supporters include Sam (Kevin Zegers) and Kai (Charlotte Sullivan), young lovers who manage to find solace in each other despite their bleak circumstances.

Things begin to unravel when Briggs receives a disturbing distress call from a nearby colony. They organize an aboveground search party to investigate, leaving their own community vulnerable to the power-hungry Mason.

It would be unfair to reveal much more. Let’s just say that director and cowriter Jeff Renfroe seems to be making two different movies here. The first is a surprisingly thoughtful rumination on how people behave under extreme stress. The second—after a crude shift in gears—is a cheesy horror movie complete with low-budget special effects. Can thoughtful reflection happily coexist with the lure of blood-spurting mayhem? Sure, but it doesn’t happen here. Although the acting is uniformly solid, The Colony’s promising premise gives way to the kind of cut-rate terror that’s both unconvincing and all too familiar.

If that’s what you want, so be it. For those of us who crave more, The Colony feels like a disjointed effort that ultimately settles for the low road.