Anna and the Apocalypse

“Horror” and “musical” are two terms that don’t exactly go hand in hand. Aside from the everlasting midnight phenomenon The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the growing cult-favorite Phantom of the Paradise, there aren’t many movies mixing those genres to speak of. So it was quite the pleasant surprise when Anna and the Apocalypse came along in 2017, a true crowd-pleaser that works equally well on both—or all—levels. It’s a teenage comedy, zombie-apocalypse thriller, family drama, and pop musical that’s spirited, funny, heartwarming, effectively gory, and loaded with infectious, inventive song-and-dance set pieces.

As Anna (an enchanting Ella Hunt) nears the end of high school, her most pressing concerns, beyond missing her deceased mom, are her questionable taste in guys and figuring out how to break the news to her janitor father (Mark Benton) that she plans to take a year off for travel before heading to university. But those issues suddenly lose all sense of urgency when, before Christmas break, an unexplained plague begins spreading throughout the tiny Scottish town of Little Haven, and she and her friends must instead mercilessly battle hordes of the living dead—and their unhinged headmaster, Mr. Savage (Paul Kaye, speaking with a villainous whisper and having a ball)—in order to even make it to graduation. It sure does seem unfair to finally make your way to the freedom finish line just to have your future challenged by the end of humanity!

Expanded from Zombie Musical, the 2011 short created by Ryan McHenry, the feature version was carried forward by John McPhail when McHenry passed away. And he was definitely the right man for the job. Taking cues from one of its clear inspirations, Shaun of the Dead, Anna and the Apocalypse features merriment and menace in perfect balance. Like the titular hero of Edgar Wright’s 2004 horror/comedy classic, Anna is at first totally oblivious to the chaos unfolding all around her. One morning, she makes her way to school so in her own head as she sings a hopeful song about turning her life around, she doesn’t even see the flesh-eaters feeding on her neighbors. It takes a zombie in a snowman suit attacking her and her best male buddy, John (Malcolm Cumming)—who, of course, harbors a big old secret crush on her—for them to see what’s going on.

Steph (Sarah Swire), one girl in Anna’s friend group who bind together for survival and get quite good at slaying zombies—Anna’s asshole ex maybe gets a little too enthusiastic about it—says: “We all deserve to go extinct,” and she’s not wrong. Yet this is the kind of movie where audiences desperately root for the heroes’ survival. And the holiday setting—additional, fun seasonal touches including a naughty song at the school’s Christmas pageant, a zombie dressed in Santa attire, and an oversize candy-cane decoration repurposed as a weapon—only adds to the feelings of tenderness. 🩸