VOD Review: Here Alone (2017)

"Drama at the end of the world."

As Post-Apocalyptic infected/zombie flicks go, Here Alone is far more like 28 Days Later than it is anything that Romero ever created. 28 Days Later by way of The Walking Dead with less action and more interpersonal drama, to be exact. 

It's a slow movie, and as compelling as it may be, it might just be too slow for most people wanting an exciting infected zombie fix. 

The good news is though that with a premise that is way too overly-familiar by now, Here Alone offers a lot of substance that many of its peers lack, which makes it worthwhile.

Ann is an emotionally damaged woman living in a Post Apocalyptic world. After an airborne infection decimated the world's population, turning most people into hungry zombies, she lives alone in the woods of upstate New York, where she forages for food and does her best to survive.

SHE LOOKS LIKE MAGGIE FROM TWD IN THIS PIC.

When she comes across a guy and his step-daughter in need of help (the first people she's seen in nearly a year), she doesn't shoot them in the head and go on surviving like any rational person would do, no, she talks to them, and invites them back to her campsite. It's almost like she's never seen a Horror movie in her life!

AWKWARD.

Ann and her new "forest mates" grow to be uneasy allies in a world-gone-infected, and as they argue whether to head north to a "safe zone" or to stay put, things go from bad to worse, mainly because the step-daughter is an asshole.

YOU SHOULD HAVE CAPPED THEM BOTH AND MOVED ON.

Here Alone is a quiet movie that gave us a compelling (if way too familiar) story and some believable characters, and painted a realistic picture of what surviving in an "infected" world might just be like. Lucy Walters, who we know from her role on Power, anchors the movie with her performance, and never once did it feel like she wasn't up to the task.

The first 20-minutes of the movie has almost no dialogue, and is just Lucy Walters traipsing around the woods alone in survival mode, and never once did it feel odd or make us itch for something to happen. Both she and the situation felt real to us, and that right there is what many genre flicks never seem to get right.

The sad part about this movie though is that it's going to leave some Horror fans who love a good Post-Apocalyptic zombie flick wanting, as it's fairly light on bloody zombie action. At its heart, Here Alone is a story about survival and loss, and a stripped-down one at that. It's a movie about relationships, and how even at the end of the world mistrust and jealousy can have dire consequences.

That's not to say that it's not intense or scary at times, because it is. That stuff is just downplayed in favor of interpersonal drama is all. 

It's also a rather somber movie, as we learn what happened to Ann's husband and baby via flashbacks throughout the movie. Seeing as you know she's alone at the beginning, you also know that those flashbacks are going to cover some traumatic and heartbreaking ground. 

We had no issue with the movie's minimalist approach and quieter tone, and in fact we really liked it, but the ending irked the shit out of me. I get why it ended that way, and it makes sense from Ann's standpoint, but what the hell, Ann?

POOR ANN...

There's some bloodshed here and there, mostly towards the end, but it's very light on zombie action.

THEY DO LOOK COOL WHEN YOU SEE THEM THOUGH.

Lucy Walters bares it all, and there's a brief love scene.

SHE'S BEEN FLOATING IN A LAKE FOR A YEAR?

The biggest threat in a Post-Apocalyptic world is a moody teenager.

UGH.

Showing a different, more realistic side of survival after a "zombie" apocalypse, we really liked the hushed, personal way that Here Alone told its story. Lucy Walters aced her role, and despite the fact that the story moved a bit slow overall, the tone it set was effective and pushed us to the edge of our seats a few times.

It's definitely worth a rental if you like Horror flicks that have a somber tone about them.

B+

Here Alone is available now on VOD.

We wouldn't mind being stuck at the end of the world with Lucy Walters. Girl can survive, and she's fiery hot.