"Productions made in an unashamedly genre-centric spirit such as the New Zealand zombie movie Forgive Us All have licence to be many things: loud, silly, trope-filled, marinated in gore and splatter. But they should never be boring. Despite handsome cinematography and picturesque settings, writer-director Jordana Stott's feature debut doesn't pass this acid test: it's dreary and monotonous, as if the terrible virus infecting its post-apocalyptic world has seeped into the movie itself, draining it of life and vitality."
"The film is led by an intensely morose performance from Lily Sullivan as Rory, a grief-stricken survivor living in a shack in the back of beyond with a man named Otto, played by the great Australian actor Richard Roxburgh with a bafflingly weird accent. It is part Aussie, but then your guess is as good as mine: maybe Irish? Scottish?"
"We do witness the moment Rory's daughter Matty (Bonnie Filer) turns into a zombie and attacks her mum, in scenes that establish both some emotional stakes and the film's allergy to nuance. Whenever I see a child zombie attack a parent admittedly not a daily occurrence my mind recalls an exquisitely great line from the Australian zombie movie Undead: When I was a kid we respected our parents, we didn't fuckin' eat them."
The film is a New Zealand zombie feature that aims for serious, atmospheric tone but comes across dreary and monotonous despite handsome cinematography and picturesque settings. Writer-director Jordana Stott favors heavy-handed seriousness over fun, draining vitality from the story. Lily Sullivan plays Rory, a grief-stricken survivor living with Otto, portrayed by Richard Roxburgh with an odd, inconsistent accent. A scene in which Rory's daughter Matty becomes a zombie establishes emotional stakes but lacks nuance. Four years later Rory shelters Noah, an escapee from a government camp, triggering the arrival of government agents and further conflict.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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