Movie Review: Z For Zachariah

Director: Craig Zobel / Starring: Margot Robbie, Chiwetel & Chris Pine / Writer(s): Nissar Modi/Based on the Robert C. O'Brien novel of the same name, Z For Zachariah is a drama set in a post-apocalyptic world where most of the human race has been wiped out in the aftermath of nuclear warfare.

It starts with a wide shot of a deserted town followed by a series of shots tracking Ann(Robbie) in her makeshift hazmat suit scavenging a town on the outskirts of the valley, a natural haven from the fallout, she lives in. Though you only see her traversing the valley alone for about five minutes, you still get a clear picture of how isolated she is. It's even more evident when she first comes across John Loomis(Ejiofor) but doesn't engage him immediately. She just observes him at first like she's never seen another human before. She's hesitant to approach him until she sees him go to bathe in a stream with radioactive water that runs in from outside of the valley; she he confronts and warns him about the dangers of the water then he scrambles back to his wagon to inject himself with some kind medicine to combat the radiation poisoning. Ann helps him, takes him back to her house and nurses him back to health.

From thereon out, the film begins to play out like a loose take on the story of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. There's that theme of religion vs science/god vs man. You learn John is intelligent, but also a little condescending. Or at least it seems that way in how he relates to Ann. He's hopeful, but something from his past weighs on him. Ann is hopeful as well, but naive and apprehensive. Chiwetel & Robbie nail these roles, Ejiofor appropriately so. Though vastly scaled down from the novel, he's still true to the spirit of that character. 

Robbie is also true to her character from the novel, but it's disturbing because in the novel Ann is a teenager. They don't explicitly say she is in the film, but Robbie is clearly playing it that way. There's literally an exchange between Pine & Ejiofor where they agree she seems "older than she is" and it's creepy as hell. The film already strays greatly from the novel, why not change that detail as well? Robbie's performance would've benefited from her playing a more mature woman and it definitely would've elevated the whole love triangle dynamic.

Pine's character Caleb doesn't exist in the book so he has the most free rein for his performance and he's fine for it. He arrives and seems like a sinister element(Chris Pine has always looked like a bad guy to me) but he's portrayed as mostly harmless outside of the inevitable pissing match he and John have. I think Zobel buys into the Adam & Eve bit when he portrays Caleb as a possible threat akin to the snake in the Garden of Eden, presents John's wealth of knowledge as an asset, but also a possible danger to the trio's sanctuary. And creepily, Ann is presented as nubile & virginal. All attributes inherent to biblical characters in one way or another. To be honest, the script lacks, but Zobel's direction is good. He sets the perfect atmosphere for tension in a situation like this to arise, but it never comes out like it should. He has vision, but not a discernible voice. His subtlety worked in his first feature Compliance, but it comes off as lackadasical here. 

This is Nissar Modi's second feature script(to be produced) and it was a popular one from the Black List. It had potential to be great film with some minor tweaks. I'll give him kudos for taking this already original story and making it his own, but he still gets an asterisk for it being it an adaptation and fumbling the middle part. Like I said, Zobel's direction is good, the story just doesn't match his sensibilities from what I've seen from him so far, though, this is only his second feature as well. I think this is an interesting film overall. It's essentially boring, but it's not bad. It's even thought-provoking at times, especially the ending that may frustrate some, but trust there's a good reason it ends that way. Think Knife In The Water if you've ever seen it.