Overlord film review: An insane WWII zombie thriller

For the many fans of Call of Duty: Zombies out there who have passionately waited for a movie adaptation on the popular game mode, you (kind of) get your wish granted here in the form of the new World War II zombie thriller, Overlord.

The traditional zombie film has almost become something of a lost art in the vast landscape of the film industry. The subgenre has found respectable but inconsistent success in the U.S., with recent films like Warm Bodies and the South Korean export, Train to Busan, experiencing moderate success in terms of box office and popularity.

You’d think that zombies would translate well into film, considering their massive success in video games like Call of Duty, Dead Rising, and Undead Redemption. But zombies just aren’t as popular when the spectators are not controlling the action. They must watch painfully as characters in a film struggle to make smart and coherent decisions that they themselves would’ve made with the flick of a joy stick. Zombie films, hard as they try, just can’t seem to emulate the sense of fun that video games can bring for the subgenre.

This is where Overlord, the J.J. Abrams-produced zombie thriller, steps in and tries to fill that void. Premiering at this year’s Fantastic Fest, Overlord has quietly built up a reputation for being an original thriller with no ties to any existing franchises and cinematic universes. Sorry Cloverfield fans, but Overlord will not join that group of films.

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That may be for the better, as Overlord receives a solid chance to prove itself as a must-watch zombie thriller with a cavalcade of mostly character and unknown actors stepping in to bask in the spotlight. It quite literally has nothing but its premise and overall positive reviews to justify a theatrical release on the same weekend as Illumination’s adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch. But how does Overlord prove itself to be an essential watch and is it even as insane and fun as many of the reviews and the official trailer suggests?

Experimentation gone wrong

Overlord already has an intriguing premise to go by; a group of American soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines in World War II, where they must battle a group of Nazis and discover why some of the nearby bystanders are acting a little…off. It’s a classic trapped scenario where our disgruntled heroes must come face-to-face with an unknown horror that could potentially doom them all, which is terrifying all on its own.

Overlord takes it a step further by borrowing some disturbing historical details from the war to serve as the backdrop for the film’s story. The age of Nazi Germany was not only plagued by the horrors of the Holocaust, but by the inhumane experiments performed by the Nazi doctors on unwilling participants, often experimenting on them with absolutely no regard for their safety. These experiments mostly resulted in death or permanent disablement, all allegedly in the name of science.

It’s these kinds of experiments that are tweaked slightly to give the zombie aspect of Overlord a disturbingly real context. The experiments were very much part of history and Overlord takes a huge risk with using real history to essentially tell a story about survival among zombies. Luckily, director Julius Avery balances the real life horror of the experiments with a grungy genre atmosphere that keeps the film from being too realistic and depressing to watch.

The story itself is captivating, despite its occasional lulls in the first act, and the wild kookiness of the zombie subgenre receives a refreshing sense of realism with the tight story of heroes needing to escape danger before it’s too late. Despite some slow scenes, the characters are in a constant state of danger, where even the slightest bit of relaxation can result in death or worse. Overlord tells a story that allows the audience to breathe, but will immediately punish them afterwards for letting their guard down even for a second.

Reluctant heroes

What makes Overlord all the more refreshing and fun to watch are the various characters we get to follow for the duration of the film. Overlord‘s main character, Boyce (played by The Leftovers and Jack Ryan cast member, Jovan Adepo), represents the fearful aspect of everyone of us. A Private with a sensitive heart of gold, Boyce is very much the pacifist of the group, often resorting to avoiding confrontation and murder.

Though his rules on violence gradually loosen up over the film’s runtime, Boyce is nevertheless the kind and timid hero of the group, played with intense vulnerability. Adept turns a potentially annoying and passive character into an admirable, if not overly naive, hero to follow.

On the opposite side of that, we get Corporal Ford, played by Wyatt Russell, who serves as the brooding badass of Overlord. He’s not a cartoonish badass either, whose dark gaze and brutal nature becomes too comical to take seriously. Ford reserves the spot for the most experienced member of the group, willing to use violence and torture in order to get what he wants. The line between cruel and necessary is straddled to perfection. Russell balances Ford’s violent tendencies with an expressive humanity that lets him ride the fence between the two.

Admittedly, the rest of the cast is not nearly as strong and even as a whole, the characters are far from compelling or well-written. It’s the sheer fun and commitment from the actors’ performances that elevate the material, turning themselves into unfamiliar yet likable characters purely on their onscreen charm. The simplicity of the group dynamic and the common goal of escaping brings everything together in a nice bow, despite weak character writing.

Gory, but accessible

Overlord may not have strong characters to go off of, but its biggest selling point is the real star of the film. Overlord benefits from its various action sequences and tense atmosphere to compliment those sequences. The characters may not be strong, but the breakneck direction of the action is enough to justify worry for the characters onscreen.

Once the threat of zombies is introduced, the action only picks up further, incorporating grisly practical effects and creative kills to raise the eyebrows of even the most hardened horror hounds out there. The mutation into a zombie is arguably more terrifying than the end result, again focusing on the real horrors of Nazi experimentation to give these zombies a uniquely disturbing sense of identity.

Despite the various gory sequences and unnerving implications shown, Overlord still presents itself as an accessible horror-thriller for mainstream audiences to enjoy, something which I wholeheartedly agree with. There is a subtle sense of playfulness with the film’s tone, specifically in the second act, that brings a sense of relief to the heart, especially after watching some of the film’s violent sequences. There’s a captivating story on the surface, but at the core, Overlord is best enjoyed as a fun, wild, and at times creative zombie thriller.

Overlord may not be a full-blown comedy like Zombieland or a smart societal critique like Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, but it still stands as one of 2018’s most surprising action standouts, basking in its B-movie glory with confidence and a smirk. For those who may have gotten tired of binge watching Bohemian Rhapsody or Venom in theaters, Overlord may be able to satisfy your need for thrilling action and cool special effects.

All of that and not a Cloverfield monster to be seen for miles.

Final Verdict: 7/10

Overlord is playing now in theaters. Have you seen this film and if you have, what did you think of it? Do you plan to watch it all this weekend? Sound off in the comments below!