Apocalypse Z: The Beginning Of The End

A strange disease has spread across the planet, turning the living into the violent dead. Manel, a man who has lived in isolation ever since the death of his wife, and his faithful cat, Lúculo, will now have to survive a zombie apocalypse.

For a year following the death of his wife, Manel has lived alone, with just his cat Luculo, in his house in Galicia, Spain. Depressed, he initially pays no attention to an ongoing outbreak rapidly spreading across Europe, and is completely unaware that the virus turns infected people into murderous zombies.

But despite still being sad, when his older sister Belén and her family are evacuated to the Canary Islands, Manel decides to join them. Unfortunately, he is unable to, as the Spanish government suddenly closes its borders, and declares a state of emergency. And after seeing a couple of zombies attacking people on the streets, Manel decides to collect some supplies, and then barricade himself and Luculo in his house.

Two weeks later, supplies are getting harder to find, and both power and communication with the outside world is out. Armed with an speargun and wearing duct tape and a wetsuit, Manel and Luculo embark a harrowing journey through zombie-infested areas, after hearing a transmission about an evacuation site. Along the way, they pick up and lose friends and allies, as he and the brave Luculo dodge zombies while riding on a dirt bike, avoid a ship full of murderous Russian sailors, and fight their way through a hospital overrun by both zombies and Russian pirates, all in order to get to the life flight helicopter that's been left there. Finally, he, Luculo, and a small group manage to escape Spain and fly off towards the Canary Islands.

But as the little group of survivors draw near to the Canaries, Manel finally manages to contact his sister Belén over the radio. To their horror, she frantically warns them to stay away, telling them that the dead are everywhere.

Roll credits, because this is a Part One…?

I guess it really was the beginning of the end.

It turns out that Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is based off the first book of the same name in a three part series, written by Spanish author Manel Loureiro, someone who apparently just couldn't resist naming his own main character after himself…. For shame, Manel.

For shame.

Anyway, the second film has apparently been greenlit.

I always enjoy a Zombie Apocalypse film, and rarely miss a chance to watch one. I especially like watching European zombie apocalypse movies as there’s a kind of purity to them, a naivety almost, as they stumble along, sincerely chasing those old familiar zombie tropes and trends that their American cousins have often left behind years ago. Plus, it’s always an interesting wrinkle to the genre when you have a zombie apocalypse set somewhere where you can’t just amble on down to your local Walmart or Bass Pro and then walk out like you’re John Matrix from the movie Commando.

One thing I really liked in this film is how Manel generally makes good choices in the face of a zombie apocalypse, or at least, he makes the best of having to make a bad choise. Like, I really appreciated how at first, he just hunkers down and turns his home into a fort. After all, it’s the best and only option in the early hours/days of a zombie outbreak…

Hunker down, hide, and wait it out. Move when it’s safe, if you have to. Trying to evacuate with everyone else will only slow you down and make you vulnerable to attack by the first big wave of zombies, which means that you’re probably going to end up as a part of the big second wave of zombies. All those fools stuck out there in traffic, honking, milling about, they're just a zombie all-you-can-eat buffet.

So, as a fan of zombie apocalypse stories, I really liked the way that Manel was often shown to think about his situation, and consider his options. And while, sure, it’s fair to say Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is an otherwise fairly paint-by-numbers example of the genre, and also maybe a little slow to get to the business, it’s still a pretty good time.

Although, admittedly, I was a little worried about the fate of Luculo the cat at first, but they take good care of him. He’s a good boy. And the film doesn’t seem to put him in any direct peril either, not even the dramatized kind, so that's good.

In the end, much like The Handmaid’s Tale, the best message that one can take away from Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End–or any zombie apocalypse movie, honestly–is one that is very relevant to our current reality here in the old U.S. of A these days:

“Pay attention. Recognize the signs. Know when to leave. Above all else… Don’t tarry too long.”

Words to live, mother fuckers. Words to live by…