3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End

2024, Carles Torres (Pet) -- Amazon

Despite not having any evidence to such, I want to say this movie was released because of the trailers for 28 Years Later appearing, with such impactful tension. Not because this movie has the same level of tension or gravitas, but merely because in the world of "zombie" sub-genres, these two share a world. Not literally, just that both "plagues" are people infected with a rage virus. To be clear(er), this is not a movie about the dead rising or walking or shambling. This is about a pandemic that quickly infects people and changes them into running, screaming, biting, tearing, eating monsters.

Oh, and its set just before Xmas, so if I had felt so compelled, I might have included it in the Xmas Leftovers.

So, just before Xmas in Spain, Manel (Francisco Ortiz, Amar es para siempre) is driving home from his sister's place, with his GF, and crashes his car -- she dies. One year later he is a mess, so much so that he just ignores all the news going on about the emerging pandemic. Via said news in the background, and over video call arguments with his sister, we see the pandemic go from "its in Russia" to Spain closing its borders to "shit, its here too". His sister and family, with ties to the government, are evacuated the the Canary Islands and she makes her brother promise to not be sent to any quarantine zones -- "shelter in place" is his best option. Not long after, he and his cat Lúculo are the only ones in his neighbourhood.

My favourite zombie survival movies give me this brief period of reprieve where the survivor can hide away in their home. As long as the water continues to flow, the automated power plants provide some electricity and you have plenty of food stored away, you can go ... for a while. Survival is counted in days, weeks and rarely looks to the future, nor to the reasons as to why you are fighting to survive. I guess, no matter how bleak it is, we always expect things to just "blow over" eventually. Manel has all this, and an additional boon of a side-gig in the solar power business. Even when the power goes down, he can still charge his phone.

Eventually he starts running out of the essentials and has to go outside. And eventually he realizes he has to leave the whole area. Via an elderly neighbour he finds, he learns of boats leaving the coast, bound for the Canaries. While he hasn't heard from his sister, as even with power, cell towers have died, he believes her to be safe. But now he has to find his way to the coast, with his cat.

Zombie flicks are almost always road movies. There are always obstacles and ever present danger, but the point is to get from A to B where maybe there is something better. We know that the 'maybe' is always tenuous. Zombie plagues tell us that, really, there is no where safe. Manel tries to escape by water, but his boat breaks down. He is picked up by Russian sailors, but learns they are more dangerous than the zombies and escapes with one of the less-evil sailors when Manel tells him he knows where a helicopter will be, and the Russian Ukrainian knows how to fly it. I am not sure why Manel thinks the helicopter will just be there, unused, just waiting for them to find it, but sure.... a lot of the movie has Manel acting on faith, an automated belief that safety is around the next corner.

Of course, there are more people at the hospital, and LOTS of zombies (hospital = infected people) and the Russians have followed them... for revenge? They have to make their way quietly through the maze of an abandoned hospital, to the miraculously still-there helicopter, through the hordes, and avoid the Russians. It felt like the end-scenario for a video game, the final chapter in a game where getting onto the chopper precedes the closing credits. And, actually, my favourite zombie game, Left 4 Dead from 2008, had this exact scenario --- get through a hospital, to the roof, to be picked up by a helicopter.

Unfortunately, as the chopper flies over open water, packed with kids, Manel's phone finally connects and.... "DON'T COME TO THE CANARIES !!" The End.

They likely won't get their sequel, but for a generic zombie flick, it was pretty solid. Like in 28 Days Later, they find the balance between survival and the journey and the tension-terror of fighting off the zombies. Most of the thrilling escapades feel plausible, and there is just enough background behind Manel to actually root for him. But it's no Danny Boyle movie. We rewatched that last night and it feels so much like the template for movies, and video games, to come. Obviously this one. Boyle stripped his movie down to the bones, especially with the camera work. The movies that follow will always be bigger, brighter and attempting more, but I hope that this one stands out, in the world of Spanish zombie movies.