REVIEW: Year Zero
*Year Zero*, be it short film or potential pilot, is pretty good stuff. I watched it online right here, as part of the* Tribeca (Online) Film Festival*.
Our story focuses on a single man trapped in a New York apartment and his mental ups and downs while the zombie apocalypse rages around him. While the zombie apocalypse is nothing new, it’s the perspective here that puts a slightly more unique, and definitely more intimate, spin on things. We’re with “loner” (as he’s credited on IMDb), our main character, as he goes through mental shakeups, cockroach-chewing, nicotine withdrawals, and, sometimes, happiness. We’re privvy to all of his thoughts via Loner’s narration; there’s very, very little dialogue. In fact, the entire short film felt like a short story, with the narrator — Patrick Rigby — seeming to be reading from a book. This isn’t a bad thing, though, as it adds to the intimacy of the film. In its short 25 minute runtime, I feel I got to be closer to Loner than I had any right to be in that amount of time. Is it an intense film? No. Rather, it has a kind of hypnotic feel (helped by the music no doubt) and sense of hopelessness, accented by brief periods of optimism. It’s not a bleak film, but it has a slight bleakness to it — something recent zombie movies have gotten away from, and something I commend Richard Cunningham on achieving.
The animation itself is much like the story: we see things very familiar to us as zombie fans, but with a unique spin. It reminds me of a more artistic, motion comic version of Tom Goes to the Mayor, and I think that works here; again, adding to the intimacy and personal feel of the film. I would love to see some behind-the-scenes footage of how it came to be (DVD!).
I’ve kept this deliberately short, as I don’t want to give too much away.. there are a few surprises to be had, and because of the short runtime, spoiling anything would be a shame for the potential viewer. Suffice to say, I liked the characters, I liked the perspective the story was told from, I liked its creativity, and, the most important thing, I liked its story. I hope everyone can get a chance to see *Year Zero*. I give it 9/10 cockroaches.
Find out more at Year Zero’s Website and Year Zero’s Facebook
You can also head back to our previous post and check out the trailer here.
