Z for Zechariah [2015] {Movie Review}

Dir: Craig Zobel
Starring: Margot Robbie, Chris Pine, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Dur: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Sci-fi drama
Rating: 2/10

This film suffers from a typical case of a betraying trailer. The trailer promised far more than the film delivered. Watching the trailer, one is given to believe that the film is full of post-apocalyptic drama. The reality is, a film struggling to make you believe in a post-apocalyptic drama. The setting is different. It’s a beautiful valley that is somehow preserved from any radioactive pollution that has destroyed the rest of the world as we are given to believe. One woman, Ann [Margot Robbie], and her faithful dog survive there. We are shown how they survive until they chance upon another survivor, Loomis [Chiwetel Ejiofor].
The two strike up a relationship that bends towards romance but is struck short by the arrival of another survivor, Caleb [Chris Pine]. The tension between the three becomes palpable and climaxes with the sudden disappearance of Caleb after the successful completion of the hydro-electric project the three were working on.
The film has an ambiguous ending. But to me, the film’s story itself was ambiguous. It wasn’t clear what the key message of the story was and neither was it clear what the film was trying to portray. Was it a story of survival? Was it a romantic tale? Was it a tragedy? But no matter what, it failed in every respect. It had elements of the above mentioned genres but it didn’t portray either of them well enough to be classified under any of these categories.  I’m surprised that the film received positive reviews and was rated pretty highly. There’s nothing in it that is praiseworthy and I struggle to understand how the reviewers could have rated it so highly.



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