Since its release last Thursday, a film from the Spanish line-up of Prime Video has established itself as an instant success, topping the ranking of the most watched programs at the top throughout the weekend: Apocalypse Z, The Beginning of the End. After Against the Sensethe platform is launching a genre film between adventure and horror which has apparently managed a lot of enthusiasm. So, should we let ourselves be tempted by this film halfway between World War Z et The Walking Dead? Everything you need to know is in our article.
What is the cast and crew of Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End?
Directed by Carles Torrens, who notably directed the film Pet with Dominic Monaghan to his credit (released in 2016 in France), the film is mainly adapted from the literary trilogy Apocalypse Z by Manel Loureiro (published by Panini Books in France). Its main character is played by Francisco Ortiz, an actor mainly known for telenovelas in Spain, and whose first major role in a film.
Synopsis de Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End
When a virus makes humans aggressive spreads, Manel hides at home, with his cat, and shows ingenuity to survive. Very quickly, they must leave in search of food and a new refuge, on land or at sea. Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is a story of physical and emotional survival, with action, suspense, a pandemic… and a cat.
CNET France’s opinion
Let’s say it straight away: this Spanish film will not surprise fans of the genre too much, since it clearly plays in the same category as other stories of the same ilk. Here, we add to the adventures a young cat and the trauma of the death of the hero’s wife in a car accident, but the development remains the same. Spain first enters a state of emergency, then lockdown while the rest of Europe closes borders and news reports of closed metropolises, then a mass civil evacuation of the population of Galicia to the Canaries, whose hero Manel’s sister, Bélen (Marta Poveda), voluntarily leaves the protagonist alone. Here the virus is quite similar to that of 28 Days Latermaking the zombies particularly agile and violent, but the question of the hero’s survival is at the center of this Apocalypse Z. Between system D and approximate defense, this widowed lawyer is far from being John McClane, and owes his survival only to strokes of luck and good ideas to avoid bites.
Devoid of humor, Apocalypse Z demonstrates a certain mastery of the genre with quite poignant attack scenes, and a real tact to develop his hero, who will have to cling to the proof of life of his sister and his nephew, as well as the generosity of total foreigners. Less of a road movie than a whet of appetite before a probable sequel which promises to be bloodier, Apocalypse Z is based on its share of adventures more than hemoglobins and avoids the cliché of close infected people who are left close to you. The film, however, lacks its own identity and truly striking sequences, coming closer to a pleasant TV movie than to an epic journey through an infected Spain that the title could promise.
What to see next Apocalypse Z ?
We advise you Diary Of The Dead by George Romero among Prime Video’s multiple zombie movie offerings.
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