Zoo

Come on, it's just some big pharmaceutical company trying to cash in.

Admit it, the zombie horror genre has been thoroughly milked in recent years. Last years the market is flooded with films in which a global epidemic causes the rise of a maddened mob of bloodthirsty, mindless people who just want to sink their teeth in a juicy piece of human flesh. The majority of releases are also terribly bad and full of unoriginal clichés. But once in a while, you'll also find quirky attempts that try to give an original twist to a well-known theme. Like this Swedish production "Zoo" (don't confuse it with the adventure film in which a young boy and an elephant steal the show) which tries to mix comedy and drama with the zombie genre. Even though I'm not in favor of a mix of comedy and horror, I could appreciate the black humor here. The film immediately reminded me of "La Nuit a dévoré le Monde" where they also put more emphasis on the person who's trying to survive the Apocalypse than the Apocalypse itself.

In "Zoo" Karen (Zoë Tapper) and John (Ed Speleers) are the ones whose lives are being shaken up. A pregnancy that has gone wrong has already ensured that they don't get along so good anymore. Karen has withdrawn deeper and deeper into her shell where she is consumed by grief and reproach. John throws himself into his work. And before they realize it, they live alongside each other, there's no longer any question of affection and Karen has gathered a lot of moving boxes already. In short, their marriage is falling apart. Were it not that a rapidly spreading virus starts to mess up society big time. Just like their marriage, society is gradually collapsing. And the only thing the authorities advise is to stay inside and keep yourself busy with something.

And that's what they do. They watch old films on VHS. Do exercises to keep fit and to defend themselves in case a few infected guys try to smash their door. But mainly the couple grows closer to each other and discover their lost love again. Maybe the supply of drugs Karen has hidden in a cupboard has something to do with it. In any case, everything seems like peace and light again. For a moment anyway. The interaction between Zoë Tapper and Ed Speleers never felt artificial. It was as if they were a couple in real life.

As I mentioned earlier, "Zoo" is a mix of drama, humor, and horror. Although the horror part is gently slumbering in the background. Every once in a while you get to see some hysterical looking aggressors who throw themselves at every audible sound. But these fragments are so scarce that after a while the horror element is forgotten. The first part is both engaging and moving. Until the neighbors show up and the comical side prevails. Without a doubt the better part of the film. The second part is more tragic and fairly intense. The ultimate message is a confirmation of their wedding promise. And I'm talking about the "for better or for worse" part. "Zoo" is certainly not suitable for a seasoned horror fan. I'm sure horror fans will be disappointed and get bored while watching it. And finally an important warning. This film has the alternative title "Death do us part". But you should certainly not confuse this with the film of the same name from the year 2014. Because that's really a monstrosity of a movie.

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The story moves quite rapidly for the first 30 minutes. It utilizes cuts to progress the plot rather than ease the transitions with viable dialogue. This lead to the introductory 1/3 of the movie leaving me without a connection to the characters since their personalities weren't even half developed.

However, things take a turn after the rising action occurs. The story starts to slow down and take a steady pace, easing me in rather than just throwing me into another random scenario along with the couple. Though, after one of the characters makes a crucial mistake and the events thereafter occur, things were wrapped up too quick. Meaning that trouble just arrived and 3 minutes later everything is ok again and we're not on to the next day. I truly with the situation was drawn out more to increase the intensity of the scene.

The ending was a little transcribed but, the tone was correct in every way. Leaving me feeling a bit hopeless and dejected. I felt the last 40 minutes of the film were it's strongest, and there, I saw the characters develop and was finally able to connect to them. That is what made the ending effective, which is why I don't understand why the same effort and writing couldn't have been included earlier in the movie. I dare say that it felt like two different people wrote this, with the better one taking over about halfway through the story.

Lastly, the score was a hit or miss. I found myself drawn away from the scenes because the music wasn't matching the tone nor actions of the characters. Other times, the score did just that, but not so much so that it increased my engagement with the scene. But, the camera angles made me feel like I was with John and Karen in their English flat, so the camera work was in no doubt the strongest part of this movie.

I actually enjoyed the film, but I'm not certain I could recommend it to someone else. But, if you are reading this to determine if you should watch it or not, I say if you are already here expressing interest, you should go ahead and watch it.

Simply put: this movie had a good premise and good acting to say the least, for its budget I feel it has accomplished ample. The plot developed steadily with some interesting humor. It dwindles 3/4 of the way, but compensates with a suitable ending. It could have yielded more in terms of action, though it did have an organic feel to it, which made the movie watchable.

(For zombie fans: this film is worth including in your watch list but I cannot give it a higher score than a 5, even though I was really satisfied with the acting... there just wasn't enough substance)

A nice little romance movie hidden inside a zombie apocalypse comedy. Very enjoyable and well worth a look. More aimed at the feel good, love story genre than at the zombie market. A hidden gem doused in British, dry, black comedy.

Even though many seem to find this movie weak and failing in many regards, I think it was quite moving. Sure, it has its faults like most movies do, but the ending is what truly got me. I was afraid this one would have a bad or frustrating ending but it didn't disappoint me. If the ending would have been different though, this might have been one of those movies that you just forget with time.

Another very strong and great positive about the movie, like many others have mentioned, is the cinematography. Beautiful shots and the lighting in some scenes is fantastic. Thanks to this you kinda forget that the entire movie is set in a small apartment.

I do however feel like the characters, other than the couple, were just weird in a way that made the movie less "realistic" (not that a zombie apocalypse is realistic anyways but I hope you know what I mean)

Overall a beautiful and different love story.. Involving some zombies.