BY RICH CROSS
The zom-rom-com is a tough genre to pull off. So it’s particularly impressive to watch a first-time writer, producer, and director manage it with such style. It’s a film that invites inevitable comparisons with Shaun of the Dead, but Follow the Dead has a distinctive heartbeat all its own.
In the Irish county of Offaly, four underachieving millennials (a brother and sister and their two cousins) are suspicious of alarming news emerging from Dublin of a zombie outbreak. Once they realise that the crisis is real, the ill-equipped and unprepared foursome are forced to fight for their lives as the undead multiply. Their plight is complicated by the appearance of masked vigilantes who seek to profit from the ensuing chaos, by would-be revolutionaries, and by the hopes of the elder brother in the group to reconcile with his estranged wife, who’s now a local Garda officer.
Although there’s a decent amount of undead action throughout, Follow the Dead is most concerned with the impact the disaster has on the bonds of family, home and community. In different ways, these hapless loafers are searching for validation in lives that have not worked out as they had hoped. You couldn’t call the comedy subtle, but there are plenty of decent jokes in the mix and some surprising emotional punches, too – as key relationships come under strain. The dialogue is sharp, the cultural observations (about priests, politicians and social media) are witty, and the performances strong. Luke Corcoran is excellent as Robbie, the self-absorbed slacker who comes good, while Tadhg Devery steals every scene that he’s in as the clueless stoner Chi. It’s not flawless, but it’s a terrifically entertaining debut.
FOLLOW THE DEAD is available to stream on Prime Video in the UK.
