Mad Max meets Ferris Bueller in boldly outrageous Netflix series Daybreak
Angelica Green (Alyvia Aly Lind), Josh Wheeler (Colin Ford), and Wesley Fists (Austin Crute) are just trying to survive in their post-apocalyptic dystopia in Daybreak.
The adults are gone in the wake of a catastrophic event and teens rule what's left of society in Daybreak, a new post-apocalyptic teen dramedy from Netflix. With its whip-smart dialogue, killer soundtrack, and rich trove of sly pop culture references, the show is almost too smart for its own good. I say "almost," because this eclectic genre mashup turns out to be an outrageously over-the-top delight. If you liked Amazon's The Boys, chances are you'll like Daybreak, too.
(Some spoilers below, but no major twists are revealed.)
Daybreak is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Brian Ralph. His first graphic novel, Cave-In, was notable for having no words at all. Daybreak was groundbreaking in a different way, told entirely from the perspective (both narratively and visually) of an unnamed survivor to an apocalyptic event, breaking the fourth wall to address readers directly. The young man wakes up to find the world he once knew destroyed, before a one-armed man appears and takes him under his protective wing. They are joined by other survivors, teaming up to avoid zombie-like creatures that lurk in the shadows but are never fully shown. It's a quiet, understated post-apocalyptic story that has been described as "The Road meets Dawn of the Dead."