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Set in a modern Maori community in New Zealand, this powerful drama chronicles three generations of one family, which is headed by a strictly old-fashioned patriarch named Koro (Rawiri Paratane, 2000’s ACCIDENTS). Koro is disappointed that his son Porourangi (Cliff Curtis, THREE KINGS) has not had a son, but a daughter. Defiantly he named the little girl Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes, film debut) after the mythic leader of the tribe. Porourangi leaves the community and his mother Nancy Flowers (Vicky Haughton, JUBILEE) takes the child in.

Koro’s disappointment fades over time once the love for his granddaughter grows, however, he’s very staunch in his traditional beliefs that his family needs a male descendant from his first-born son to carry on the leadership and traditions of his people. As Porourangi tells Pai, he’s looking for a prophet. When I first heard the plot of this film, I thought that the film was just going to be one of those solid girl-proves-she can-hang-with-the-boys type of films. I just wasn’t prepared for the honest power of this particular story.

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This mix of THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD series and Stephan King’s THE STAND is the smart man’s zombie movie. This intense horror film has raw energy behind it. Director Danny Boyle has breathed life into a subgenre of scary movies that hasn’t felt fresh in ages. There’s grit and sweat and anger underneath this story, but there is also heart. The best way I can describe the mood of this film is to call it pure punk rock.

The set-up is typical; a virus quickly spreads through England turning humans into bloodthirsty killers. Jim (Cillian Murphy, GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING), a comatose bike messenger, wakes up in the hospital and finds the city deserted. He soon meets up with Selena (Naomie Harris, TV’s DINOTOPIA) and Mark (Noah Huntley, MEGIDDO: THE OMEGA CODE 2), who have been battling to stay alive against the infected for the last 28 days. Later on the trio meet, Frank (Brendan Gleeson, DARK BLUE), the devoted father of Hannah (Megan Burns, LIAM), and Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston, THE OTHERS), a no-nonsense leader of a small group of military officers.

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