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Apocalypse Z a Spanish Zombie theme movie that came out of no where, is another hit Amazon Prime Video has brought to us and it’s blowing up the streaming platform since its Halloween release. I went into this movie expecting it to be just another zombie invasion movie but I was pleasantly surprised by how it builds tension and develops its characters so much so that it stands out as one of the best zombie films among the many out there but I'm sure people will try to make a straight comparison to World War Z and even look at it over the shoulder because its not a direct sequel with Brad Pitt in it.
Our main character Manel is thrown into a Christmas Eve tragedy when his wife Julia is killed in a car accident that opens the movie. A year later we have Manel living almost in solitary, probably felt there was nothing else for him after his wife died, apart from his Persian cat Luculo, there was nobody next to him. A mysterious virus called TSJ is spreading across Europe and the world is falling apart, which is something that sounds familiar as it mirrors so much of what we went through during COVID, but in a much darker way.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27599851/
- Platform: Amazon Prime Video
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The plot really starts to move when Manel’s sister Belen and her family decide to evacuate to the Canary Islands. The virus suddenly mutates turning infected people into aggressive monsters within minutes and as Manel tries to join them all flights are cancelled. What is interesting about this movie is that it shows how society is breaking down through Manel's eyes, from panic buying in the stores, to complete chaos as the infection spreads.
It doesn't dive into non stop zombie action but instead it takes its time to show Manel's survival journey, well him and his cat, because multiple times the cat turns into the star of the movie. First he holes up in his apartment, ignoring evacuation orders and waiting for his sister to come back like she promised. Two weeks of isolation with little food and now he has to go out into a world that’s changed completely, these moments in which the movie really shines are when it highlights the horror of the infected as well as the darkest side of surviving humans, yes we have seen more detailed series do this like The Walking Dead but this time it felt a bit more human, a bit more natural and not so Hollywood ultra prime final product, rough around the edges.
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Francisco Ortiz who play Manuel, had a lot of depth with vulnerability, not to mention strength as the story kept developing, everything about his performance makes you think he'd truly transformed from a grieving widower to a man fighting to stay alive and save others, imagine you are in his place where he might had many times though of depression and there is nothing left to now fight 24/7 to stay alive? the irony. His scenes with his cat Luculo bring some touching moments into the middle of all the chaos. Manel and Jose Maria Yazpik who play character Viktor Pritchenko, have good chemistry on screen and when Manel meets Pritchenko their chemistry is real, not forced. I know many will remember Yazpik as El Señor de Los Cielos, when he play Amado Carillo Fuentes on the Netflix TV Series, his repertory has been growing as he gets more screen time on multiple movies, he probably starting to ramp up, an actor many might be sleeping on.
Based on rating results and amount of views it does seem like people have been loving the movie and it’s doing incredibly well on Prime Video’s streaming charts, perhaps viewers connect to how the film handles the early stages of the outbreak because it feels so familiar after our real world pandemic experience and not just straight up Zombie attack, even World War Z felt kind of slow at first too but based on the fact that it was a Hollywood production and had Brad Pitt in it part of your brain knows its a movie, not sure how to explain it though. Apocalypse Z is a proven combination of personal drama with zombie action that has appealed to the streaming audience, even if others would have preferred more gore and zombie scenes.
The movie was really able to balance the amount of action sequences with the development of the characters, with other scenes are incredibly well executed, like a chase through the woods and the final hospital scene. Some might say it’s like World War Z, but this movie is more grounded and personal, the weight of the story is increased because the decision has been made to focus more on survival and human relationships and less on nonstop action.
Apocalypse Z ends on a perfect circumstance for a sequel to happen after its success, considering it’s based on the first book of a trilogy by Manel Loureiro. Manel fights his way through hordes of zombies and the typically dangerous human survivors who are also in survival mode going after everything that moves, everyone is in the offensive at this point, eventually Manel get his hands on a helicopter with his group and things look too promising as Manel is told by his sister Belen that she got a call from him just when they seem to be headed to safety at the Canary Islands. She tells him to stay clear and that the islands aren’t what you think they are. At the end of the movie, fighter jets pass over their helicopter which implies that military intervention may come to control the outbreak. It's a massive cliffhanger, asking what's actually going on with the islands and what the military actually plans to do.
While Apocalypse Z doesn’t entirely reinvent the zombie genre, there are enough new elements to keep it interesting as a film, the Spanish setting is a different view than the usual American zombie apocalypse and the character development over the action is what makes it great. It feels more immediate and relatable because it is the way it incorporates real world pandemic experiences into its story. The production quality is a solid for a streaming movie and makes sense that they chose to keep the gore on the low end of things instead of going for excessive gore to help keep focus on the story more than the shock value. It’s still not a scary movie but rather does a great job of building tension through well written scenes and solid performances. However many viewers may want more action or gore, I feel that the sacrifice is well worth it for what the movie wants to convey. Apocalypse Z is a story at its heart about how tragedy can either shatter us or make us stronger, and about finding purpose in the chaos. I'm happy with streaming performance and solid base for the trilogy in Loureiro, this is definitely worth adding to your watch list if you like zombie movies but don’t want something as shallow as your average zombie movie, I only gave it a 7/10 because after all it didn't felt like a massive production although withouth a doubt I can watch it more than once in a year.
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