“A family of four is quarantined in their home as a virulent strand of the flu spreads into town and they are forced to the extreme to escape alive.” — IMDb
Honestly, zombie movies aren’t my absolute favorite. I do have a few that I love, but overall they don’t do much for me. Maybe it was my higher standards due to this fact, but this movie just didn’t grab me. It’s apparently the first post-apocalyptic zombie movie made in Denmark so maybe they just need some more practice.
It takes the perspective of showcasing the early days of the zombie virus spreading. In many ways it almost feels like a pilot episode of a zombie TV show, which, to its disadvantage, means it feels like it’s ramping you up for some great action down the line butttttt it doesn’t really deliver.
I was intrigued at first — the concept of a virus spreading quickly always freaks me the hell out, zombie or otherwise — but before you know it you’re catapulted into the stereotypical routine: people are quarantined without being given much information, military personnel are patrolling the neighborhood, people are told not to go to the hospital if they’re sick. There’s a quick transition from “something might be wrong?” to “oh shit something is REALLY WRONG” and yet… still no real intense climax, in my opinion.
Per usual, compassion (and maybe some ignorance) is the downfall of the group (letting Sonja’s obviously sick and feverish mom stay over?), and things escalate pretty quickly from there.
I did like the couple scenes that showed the zombies’ fascination with light — once when they got distracted by a streetlight (all staring up at it like they were watching shooting stars) and another when they got intrigued by a fire. I also liked the fact that they were fast. The rabbit stew scene was also an unexpected bit of dark humor. When Sonja wakes up with her mother all rigor mortised on her I got some REAL chills, both from the fact that it was creepy as hell but also surprisingly tender (in the sense that her mom wanted to spoon her before she died).
But really, I felt no attachment to any of the characters. You barely even remember the youngest daughter is part of the group aside from her occasionally popping in to ask about her rabbit. The son is rebellious to an annoying degree. And the main couple are awkward as all hell, even during their goodbye kiss (when they know the husband may not come back alive). The moments of sheer desperation — threatening the woman for her box of supplies, Sonja having to re-kill her mother, Dino knowing he needs to kill the daughter — are painful to watch, as they are in any situation like this, since you see a glimpse of what a post-apocalyptic world like this could be like. But, ultimately, I feel like this movie just didn’t deliver enough raw emotion and unique situations to stand out.
Rating: 3/10 | Director: Bo Mikkelsen | Starring: Mille Dinesen, Marie Hammer Boda, Mikael Birkkjær, Troels Lyby, Ole Dupont
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