DVD Review – What’s Left Of Us
2 min read
If you are looking for a Zombie Apocalypse film that accurately depicts how boring life will be post-apocalypse, post-crazy zombie killing, post-fighting to the death to say alive, What’s Left of Us is for you.
Axel (Lautaro Delgado), Jonathan (William Prociuk) and Ana (Victoria Almeida) are, for all they know, the last people on earth. They live in a dingy little apartment in an unnamed city surrounded by the undead. Their days seem repetitive and ultimately boring. The relationship dynamic between the three is really strange and disjointed. Jonathan and Ana are a couple, but Jonathan often leaves Ana and Axel alone or exposes her in some way for his benefit. But it’s Ana who seems to hold the power, she manages to get Jonathan and Axel to kiss in exchange for a kiss from her. It’s the manipulation of each other that seems to keep them interested in living.
They’ve developed rules; don’t go out on your own, one person must stay in the house at all times, if one person wants to play a game, everyone must play. All rules you’d want to follow in the apocalypse, really. Seeing as though not a whole lot happens in the movie, the games really drive the action. Every moment of anxiety, hostility and anger forces the games to become more than just a board game, but a way of manipulating everyone else.
Ana creates a therapy room where they can vent, and share their feelings by recording them onto an old video camera, hoping to relieve some of the pressure that comes with being the last people alive. This is a kind of Blair Witch-esque element where the videos almost tell more of the story than any other any other part of the action.
What’s Left of Us is an interesting and surprising take on the post-apocalyptic zombie movie genre, leaving all the action and zombie spattered brains out and keeping the cabin fever and twisted human relationships in. It feels like the film has been created with the intention of revealing the worst parts of humanity in the most difficult of situations. Whether it be going back on a promise or shooting someone because you just aren’t sure if they are infected or not.
I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Zombie movies, but What’s Left of Us actually managed to keep me interested (possibly because I wasn’t watching heads explode every five seconds) in the same way a psychological thriller might. Its kind of refreshing to see someone make what could be a terrible, gory movie into a dark and gritty psychological drama about the realities of possibly being the last humans on earth and the fight to stay alive.
