‘Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End’ (2024) Movie Review
A quality tale of survival, action, and drama concerning a man and his cat in the zombie apocalypse.
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What is Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End About?
Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is the story of a man (and his cat) attempting to find his family during the early days of a deadly pandemic.
One year ago, Manel’s wife Julia died in a car accident. Now, Manel lives a solitary life. He has his cat Lúculo to keep him company, but despite his sister and her family living relatively close to him, he never visits. Manel lives near the western coast of Spain, and the area is becoming increasingly threatened by the rapid spread of a virus that is speeding its way west across Europe. The virus causes people to become highly aggressive, chasing uninfected people and biting them until they are either dead or newly infected. A new mutation of the virus now causes the time from infection to aggression to be mere minutes.
Manel’s city undergoes a government-ordered evacuation, but, on the advice of his sister, he stays in his apartment. When he runs out of food and the infected begin appearing nearby, Manel sets out to reunite with his sister, nephew, and brother-in-law on the Canary Islands where they said they were going before all methods of communication were cut off. His journey is fraught with danger, both from the hordes of the infected and from the other people also attempting to survive the zombie apocalypse.
Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End Review
Apocalypse Z isn’t trying to reinvent the zombie movie. Instead, it attempts to tell an exciting and emotional story of survival within a familiar format. Much more often than not, it succeeds, making Apocalypse Z an entertaining choice for zombie fans.
The overall progression of the plot is somewhat standard for movies like this. The story begins with the breakdown of society, then it moves on to scavenging and survival, and it progresses through a journey in which our hero Manel makes friends and enemies along the way to his final destination. It’s quality genre filmmaking. What makes Apocalypse Z stand out is the dramatic element provided by the main character.
Manel’s story isn’t just about survival. It’s also about finding a reason to survive. Before the virus outbreak, Manel was still dealing with the effects of losing his wife a year earlier. His life is at a standstill, and he’s isolating himself from the people who care about him. Being thrust into a life-threatening situation forces him to figure out what is important to him. Themes of love, loss, and family are the threads that tie the movie together when it’s moving through its action set-pieces, suspenseful sequences, and dramatic moments. And thankfully, the drama is never melodramatic. It’s always grounded in reality which keeps it compelling in a meaningful way.
The entire movie does a good job of staying grounded in reality. Part of that grounding comes in the form of references to the real-life pandemic and how people reacted when the world went on lockdown. The situation in the movie obviously goes way beyond what we all experienced in the pandemic, but by beginning with something everyone can relate to, it helps make the whole movie feel more believable.
Speaking of being believable, Apocalypse Z never gives in to the temptation of making the action sequences too exaggerated. There are no outlandish scenes of zombie slaughter. Manel is not a comic-book or video-game hero picking off zombies with ease. Whenever he is forced into a confrontation with the infected, Manel is lucky to just escape with his life. Then, when he learns more and realizes what he has to fight for, seeing Manel put his life on the line to protect others has an even greater impact.
As for the zombies, they are best described as something similar to the zombies of 28 Days Later (2003). The Apocalypse Z zombies are living people infected with a virus that turns them into fast-running rage monsters. Their speed and ferocity provide some intense action sequences, but the zombie scenes are spread throughout the movie at a pace that keeps Apocalypse Z from being an all-out action-horror film. It’s better categorized as a survival thriller, action horror, and drama, in that order of descending focus, though they’re all about equal in importance.
For anyone who has experienced a lot of zombie fiction (and there is a lot of it out there), Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End begins in a way that might feel too familiar for some viewers. But stick with it, because it is a solidly entertaining entry within the canon of zombie fiction.
Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End Rating and Recommendation
Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is recommended for all fans of zombie fiction, especially fans of movies and shows like 28 Days Later (2003) and The Walking Dead (2010–2022). It is also recommended for any fans of survival and action-horror films. Apocalypse Z is based on the first novel in a trilogy, so viewers wanting an ending that wraps everything up might need to temper their expectations on that. But that also means this could be the start of a very fun trilogy!
Further Reading
- Best Zombie Movies
- Best Survival Horror Movies
- Survival Movies About Being Trapped in Strange Places
- Movies About a Scary Societal Collapse
