Already Dead (2016)
Starring Darren Ruston, Andrea Newland, Adam Diggle
Written and directed by Michael James Dean
Already Dead focuses on George, a zombie and UK resident who just wants to get on with his life in a world that doesn’t want him to exist. Being a zombie, he can only speak in a nearly incomprehensible mumble, but thankfully, subtitles are on hand, albeit with some typos.
After thanking Hollywood for depicting his kind as mindless, brain-eating monsters, he explains that all zombies want is a little help. And help they got, in the form of a drug called Zombenzine, which reduces their appetite for human brains and makes them somewhat ‘normal’. But unfortunately it comes at a price. Unlike in the US (unless Bernie becomes President), in the UK all healthcare is free, but as they’re zombies, the rules no longer apply and they need to pay a whopping £100 for a week’s supply of pills.
While on the surface Already Dead appears to be yet another comedic spin on the zombie genre, in actuality, once you peel back the surface, something much deeper lies underneath. The zombies of this world have suppressed their urges to devour human flesh and simply want to be honest and hardworking members of society. Signs hang at their work areas saying, “Be Nice To Your Zombie Co-Worker”. Most tellingly of all, they need to shop at ‘Zombie-Friendly Stores’, which I guess could be seen as an allegory for how several of the Red States across America now give shop owners the right to refuse service to LGBT people, simply because they believe in the words of an ancient book which says that the world was created in six days.
Interspersed with interviews with the living dead, we also have appearances from… well, I guess you could call them UK nationals, who are none too happy about the living dead having residence in the UK. Maybe Donald Trump will propose building a 10-foot wall around graveyards.
It’s amazing that in the year 2016, people still judge others on things like race, gender, and sexuality, rather than on personality, merit, and achievements. Just look at how most of the Republican candidates in this crazy Presidential race built their campaigns around promises of allowing discrimination if elected. The zombies in Already Dead may not, for the most part, want to eat your brains, but the horrors it presents are far worse.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
