Director: Abe Forsythe
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, Josh Gad, Kat Stewart
Have I Seen it Before: No. And I’m very, very mad at myself for having waited as long as I have to fix that.
Did I Like It: If Lupita Nyong’o is in a movie, my temptation is to reduce my opinion to one simple question: Is the film featuring as much Nyong’o as it possibly can. The Star Wars sequel trilogy is frequently frustrating*, whereas Us (2019) was easily my favorite movie of that year. Here, the movie threatens to derail by not delivering on its promise for quite some time, but after Nyong’o does show up, she gives a delightful comic performance that is not necessarily in line with her other performances, only underlying the range she possesses. Is there anything she can’t do? And with the implied answer to that question, is it possible I’m going to find the majority of films frustrating because they don’t even bother to have the minimal amount of Nyong’o on display?
Beyond that, I can only suppose I had some hesitation about watching the film was because my patience level for anything zombie had been absolutely sapped by The Walking Dead, but even with a different cast (the kids are all great and believable, which is more than enough to earn the film a recommendation) this film would work. I realize now that I’m not sick of zombies entirely, but instead sick of the zombie apocalypse. Were this story to have taken place during an apocalypse, all the characters would have to look forward to is more zombies. Bleak, sort of exhausting, and no amount of comedy is likely to change that. Here, with a relatively isolated outbreak, the situation is dire, but there is hope.
That’s all I really need out of a story. That, and Nyong’o.
*Even when it is good. Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017) is an the best entry since Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (fight me, I don’t care), but yet my only complaint is the obstinate rationing on Nyong’o.