#REVIEW: “ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong

Director John McPhail and Writers Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry certainly know what time of year it is. Their Anna and the Apocalypse is an absolute home run if you love Zombies and Musicals. If Nicolas Cage were a genre of movie, he would be Anna and the Apocalypse. It is so insanely brilliant and packed with enough humour to induce actual physical pain. There is no other Christmas Movie this Christmas season than Anna and the Apocalypse. I for one can’t wait to add it to my Holiday Classics rotation.

Anna (the ever-charming Ella Hunt) is from Little Haven, Scotland, and everything is normal as she goes through her daily routine with best friend John (Malcom Cumming) at school, until she wakes up the next day, completely oblivious to the fact that there has been a Zombie outbreak. Anna, John, Steph (Sarah Swire), Nick (Ben Wiggins) and Lisa (Marli Siu) must band together, once they find each other, to protect themselves from the Zombies as they try to reunite with their parents who are trapped in the school along with headmaster Savage (Paul Kaye).

What makes Anna and the Apocalypse such a joyful delight, aside from its must-have Soundtrack are the performances from the Lead Cast. Ella Hunt and Ben Wiggins steal the show, stamping themselves as ones to watch. As well, it’s Supporting Cast all are exceptional, with Kaye having a show-stopping scene in the Third Act that is just ridiculous. The chemistry that is shared among this Cast is something that many Zombie films lack, and it’s what makes Anna so special. It is a thoroughly well-executed film.

It cannot be stated enough how brilliant and cheerful Anna‘s Soundtrack is. Some examples of this brilliance can be found in Christmas Means Nothing Without You (Ella Hunt, Sarah Swire and Malcom Cumming), which is the opening song, Hollywood Ending (the first Cast piece) which is where all the High School Musical comparisons coming in, Soldier at War which demonstrates the ferocity of Ben Wiggins, and my personal favourite, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now by Paul Kaye.

Anna and the Apocalypse is a bloody-good time, and cannot be missed. So get your Christmas spirit going by strapping yourself in for the most wonderful time you’ll have this year!

VVS Films release Anna and the Apocalypse in select cinemas Friday, December 7, 2018.