Ninth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #15 Cargo

Australia!  Zombies!

After an outbreak of who-knows-what, Andy (Martin Freeman, who really does commit to every role he's in), his wife Kay and infant Rosie take to a houseboat to avoid the diseased populace on shore.  They're running out of food, however, and when they moor near a wrecked sailboat, Andy sneaks over and scavenges the sailboat, bringing back a bunch of tinned foods and a bottle of red wine.  A closed closet door makes him nervous but he doesn't say anything to Kay back on the houseboat.  Later, while Andy snoozes, she sneaks back over to the sailboat, looking for a corkscrew to open that bottle of wine.  That closet door opens and she gets bitten. 

The whole run of Cargo, no one says "zombie" or "walker" or "living dead."  The outbreak is treated like a disease and everyone carries an emergency kit including medicine (ineffectual), tourniquets and a switchblade-like pick to put the infected down.  Also included in the kit is a Fitbit-like watch which counts down from 48: the infected have just that long before turning.  The little family goes ashore, looking for a hospital.  The clock is running out for Kay and when they have a car crash, Andy is knocked unconscious for hours and his wife has gone full-zombie by the time he comes to.  He manages to get himself and Rosie out of the car but not before Kay bites him.  Now Andy has 48 hours to get baby Rosie somewhere safe.

While all this is happening, there is a parallel story of an Aboriginal family who are dealing with infected family members of their own.  After Andy and Rosie head out on their own, their paths cross with Thoomi (Simone Landers, terrific), the twelve-year-old Aboriginal girl who is just trying to save her infected dad.  She and Andy are at odds at first but, as he is fighting his losing battle against the infection, their relationship changes.

I thought this was a novel take on an overworked genre, especially being given a peek into Aboriginal culture and spirituality.  There's not a ton of zombie action for a zombie movie but that's okay; as it often is with zombie flicks, the surviving humans are sometimes the real terrors.  Interestingly, Cargo started as a short (linked here) which is terrific.  It hits all the highlights of the movie, without any of the full-length film's sometimes draggy pace, although it has none of the Aboriginal focus.