Anna and the Apocalpse is based on the 2010 BAFTA winning short called Zombie Musical. It contains original music written by Roddy Hart and Tom Reilly, and I can guarantee that between fits of laughter you’ll be tapping along to the music. This movie is about a Christmas when a zombie outbreak occurs, complete with musical numbers.
The film starts out normally enough, with high school kids in the town of Little Haven preparing for their Christmas concert, and planning what to do after graduation, and with fairly normal songs like Christmas means nothing without you and my personal favorite from the soundtrack, “Hollywood Ending”. But quickly the story turns, as the day after the Christmas concert, the main character, Anna played by Ella Hunt and her best friends are singing an upbeat song about their future while completely oblivious to the zombie apocalypse going down around them. This film is extremely quirky, in parts hysterically funny and in parts a little bit depressing. Nobody wants to be stuck in a zombie apocalypse. As Anna and her classmates try get back to their loved ones, we get to see the different sides to the characters as their lives go from youthfully happy to having the weight of humanity on their shoulders.
Through the experiences of the characters, we get to see the experiences of being a teenager and on the brink of a time of major change in their lives and not just because of the zombie apocalypse. Anna and the Apocalypse balances the comedy and music with every cast member being vocally impressive. The chemistry between all the characters is believable and despite the context of the movie, isn’t actually cheesy at all.
I loved the humour and the originality, especially for a Christmas film. The cast pull off the musical numbers with great comedic timing. The musical numbers fit perfectly in the scenes and as much as you will be tapping along to the music, you never once question it’s place in the film. I highly recommend Anna and the Apocalypse for a different Christmas viewing experience this holiday season, and for a good laugh with great acting and original music. While Anna and the Apocalypse is fun, dramatic, suspenseful, bloody, hilarious and the music is catchy as hell, it is more than just a zombie flick and is about family, friendship, love, loss, hope and survival.