Roze-Rating: 4 / 5

R (Nicholas Hoult) is a zombie who thrives for more despite being dead. He is aware of the zombie epidemic but still feels there is still hope for them. It takes saving a girl from being devoured by a group of zombies to slowly feel again.

I was expecting this to be more of a parody of zombie films like Shaun of the Dead but was pleasantly surprised by the charm and unique approach to the Romeo and Juliet story. Right from the go we get to know R as being a lot different than your average zombie as he listens to old classics to feel, it’s refreshing to see a zombie film from the zombie’s perspective; definitely original. R’s opening monologue is funny and takes a few amusing stabs at modern society making some similar comparisons between zombies and people today, we’re not too different unfortunately. Straight away my preconceptions of the film were wrong so I sat back and enjoyed probably the most charming film of the year.

It took me a while to notice the Romeo and Juliet similarities (cause I’m slow like that), but when I did I let out quite a loud “ooooooooh” and mumbled “R is Romeo and Julie is Juliet!” was quite happy with my self at the time. It added this whole new originality to it which I loved, as if it wasn’t unique enough. I like how the film doesn’t present us with generic zombies, they give us zombies that can gain memories from a human’s brain once eaten, we also get “boneys” who are ultra zombies that have given up on “life”. Little details which make the story interesting and different.

It’s a pretty beautiful story which is totally held up by the filming style and music. It’s artsy but down to earth really tapping into the emotions of the characters and without the score it wouldn’t have made as much of an impact. It really is a zombie film with heart.