Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is dominating the streaming charts on Prime Video. Based on a series of novels written by Manel Loureiro, the Spanish thriller details a man’s journey to reunite with his family after the outbreak of a rabies-like virus that mutates the human population into deranged monsters.
The Gist: The film opens with Manel (Francisco Ortiz) celebrating Christmas Eve in Spain with his wife Julia (Iria del Río) and his sister Belen’s (Marta Poveda) family. While arguing about the prospect of having kids on the way home, the couple get into a car accident and Julia is killed.
One year later, Manel is a recluse with only the company of his cherished cat, Lúcolo. The TSJ virus is a new pandemic taking over Europe. Grocery stores are ransacked, news stations are reporting border closures and people are recommended to self-quarantine. Pretty unimaginable stuff, right?
Belen’s family is being evacuated to the Canary Islands, and she begs Manel to meet them there. On his way to the airport, the radio warns of a new TSJ variant that shortens the incubation of the virus to only a few minutes before severe symptoms arise. Transmission of TSJ is through bites. All planes are canceled at the airport and a state of emergency is declared.
Manel returns home to lock himself away and witnesses one of his neighbors, turned rabid and violent, being led out of a quarantine bubble wrapped home. Attempting to get provisions, he ends up in the crossfire of some of the newly infected people, narrowly escaping them. Following his sister’s wishes, he disobeys the government mandated evacuation and hides out at home until Belen comes to pick him up as she promised.
Two weeks later, Manel is still alone, starving and unable to communicate with his family. While searching for food, he meets an elderly woman abandoned by her children, and the pair plan to travel to a survivor center where they will then be transported to the Canaries.
The rest of the film follows Manel’s journey to reunite with his sister. He faces dozens more rabid humans, regular evil humans and other complications all while valiantly protecting Lúculo. The abrupt ending also teases a potential sequel in the works.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of: Survivors attempting to reach a safe place in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event, with a beloved cat companion in tow, is extremely reminiscent of A Quiet Place: Day One. And you can’t really talk about zombie outbreaks without referencing World War Z, Marc Forster’s underrated, ambitious film from 2013 that starred Brad Pitt.
Performances Worth Watching: Francisco Ortiz’s performance as the grieving widower and protective cat-dad fending off zombies is appealing. Ortiz must be a cat person himself, the way that man cuddled with the feline all throughout the film.
Memorable Dialogue: Though not a ton of memorable dialogue, even the cliche bits, the scene where Manel discovers a grotesque rabid baby stuck with me.
Sex & Skin: None.
Our Take: Apocalypse Z does the job and doesn’t go over. It’s captivating for lengths of time and also has its bland bits. The flick is just jumpy enough to keep you entertained, but not deter non-horror movie folks. The performances are heartfelt and authentic enough to draw attention back from the anticipated narrative and occasional slow moving scene.
The choice for the first act to show the origin of the virus’ impact on society is successful in commanding attention. Though, this is mainly because of all the callbacks to the trepidation everyone in the world faced, and continues to, a little over four years ago. The panic buying of oranges, news coverage of the TSJ variant that, “seems to redefine what we know about the virus,” and home quarantine measures hit a little too hard. It’s established that COVID-19 exists and happened in this universe, making the public’s reaction to TSJ palpable and actually a bit terrifying to think the global public has not learned their lesson.
Our Call: STREAM IT: Despite some of its predictability, Apocalypse Z is a fun thriller for all audiences.
Claire Waheed is a recently graduated freelance writer currently based in Texas. She loves all things pop culture and new adventures.