Director Zak Hilditch here crafts a story that is more of a grief-based drama than a traditional zombie movie. The film explores loving relationships that can go wrong against the backdrop of a military disaster off the coast of Australia - namely Tasmania - and introduces a more intelligent than average supernatural twist.
The Americans have accidentally detonated an experimental electromagnetic pulse weapon off the Tasmanian coast. The blast instantly kills most of the island's population by causing total neural failure. The Australian authorities are welcoming volunteers to collect bodies, assisting the military with a gruesome clean-up. The twist here though, is that some - just a small percentage - of the dead are coming back to life, or at least a baseline, reanimated form of living. So yes, technically it's a zombie film! The longer they are left in that state, the more likely they are to become aggressive. Up to now, the military 'finishes them off' while they are still slow-moving, whenever one is found by the teams.
Ridley plays Ava, an American physiotherapist who joins this body retrieval unit. Her true motive, however, is to find her husband, Mitch, who was at a resort in the restricted blast zone when the weapon went off. She eventually teams up with Clay (Brenton Thwaites), a local man running from his own past, and the two go rogue, stealing a motorcycle to head south into the dangerous quarantined territory where Mitch was last known to be.
The 're-living' are characterised by a chilling, haunting, rhythmic grinding of their teeth as they become aggressive and launch attacks on the living, given the chance. We're not really sure what these creatures do if they catch someone because, throughout the film, it doesn't actually happen. Presumably, they are hungry and might try to eat them, but as I say, we don't have to deal with the specifics of that.
Midway through their journey, Ava and Clay meet Riley (Mark Coles Smith), a soldier who has spiralled into madness regarding lost memories and his wife, who was pregnant at the time of the incident. Some dubious, creepy happenings take place at his house and outbuildings - half of which resemble a shrine - while he offers to help them reach their destination. I shall say no more on that!
Clay disappears during this time, so Ava continues alone. We travel with her as she encounters various members of the living dead and watch how she deals with each thrilling situation. The film's only annoying part is the reliance on too many flashbacks to paint a picture of Ava and Mitch's background - but to be fair, it does all come together and make sense in the end. It is a satisfying conclusion, though it contains one element that was a bit of a stretch!
The blood, guts, and gore are constrained here. The emphasis is certainly more on spook, chill, atmosphere and shadowy figures lurking in-frame to raise tension - and it does this well. Daisy Ridley is worth the ticket price alone, as she plays her part beautifully, and the rest of the cast are not far behind. The music is also lovely, with moving scenes set to classical pieces that fit perfectly as the cinematography takes in broad land and seascapes.
It's a smart little thriller which has just arrived on streaming services in the UK and is well worth a look. It won't blow your socks off, but for me, the 90-minute investment paid off well.
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