Though it was released in 2017, Anna and the Apocalypse is surprisingly relevant in 2020, making it the perfect Christmas movie for an unconventional year. Set at Christmastime in a small UK town, the film follows the lives of several high school students whose dreams are put on hold when a zombie outbreak jumpstarts the end of the world. Improbably a musical, Anna and the Apocalypse touches on the innermost emotions of its characters through song, exploring feelings of being isolated, trapped, disillusioned. Unfortunately, in the current pandemic, those feelings are shared by a great many around the world as the COVID-19 crisis has forced many into distressing and isolating circumstances.
With the upcoming holiday season set to be an unconventional one, this zany horror musical is the perfect way to get into the spirit. It includes wacky Christmas songs, improvised candy cane weapons, and an unforgettable winter holiday pageant. But even with an undeniably Christmas themed backdrop, Anna and the Apocalypse doesn’t rely on typical holiday film narratives. It discusses morality and family in a more nuanced way, not shying away from the gray areas in life as some Christmas movies do. During a holiday season that might not be what many are used to, embracing the dark with the light could be just what the doctor ordered.
Anna and the Apocalypse has been heralded by ET Canada as “Shaun of the Dead meets La La Land,” a combination that doesn’t quite sound like it should work, but undeniably does. It subverts the genre in a delightful way, drawing inspiration from multiple styles without creating any dissonance or clashes. Combining offbeat humor, classic horror elements, and emotionally driven storytelling, the film inadvertently touches on the current pandemic experience and provides both escapism and a compelling story, making it the perfect Christmas movie for the 2020 holiday season.
While hiding out to protect themselves from zombies, the film’s heroes sing a song called “Human Voice” that explores the ways in which technology falls short as a means of communication. In the context of 2017, the year of the film’s release, the song serves as a critique of the ways in which technology can be more isolating than uniting, putting up walls in the form of screens. However, in 2020, technology has played a different role, and in fact has been most peoples’ primary mode of communication. While this is undeniably a good thing, the film draws attention to the ways in which communication via technology simply isn’t enough.
Each of the main characters are driven by a need to reach their loved ones, and anxiously pore over news feeds and government updates: an experience that many are sure to relate to from this year’s global pandemic. Chris, one of the core group, laments: “We’ve become technology / Lines of code and binary / What the hell is left of me?” The characters are largely unable to reach their loved ones, and can only access them via photos and videos of earlier times. While video conferencing has been an important part of staying connected in times of social distancing and quarantine, it also lacks something vital: the same kind of connection the characters of Anna and the Apocalypse long for in “Human Voice.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic is, luckily, zombie-free, it certainly makes the pandemic that’s going on in Anna and the Apocalypse feel a little less far-fetched. Having lived through times when it is, indeed, daunting to go outside, audiences can empathize much more viscerally with the film’s central characters. The fantastical element of the movie is in no way eliminated, but it takes on a greater significance, meaning the story’s stakes don’t feel outsized or silly. The characters’ fear is no longer simply believable, but an easily accessible feeling that makes the movie all the more emotionally effective.
Though Anna and the Apocalypse has some dark moments, they become oddly comforting in the wake of such stressful times, especially as Christmastime—a season that is typically quite cheerful—approaches, bringing with it new challenges in light of the pandemic. While some viewers may not want to engage with the idea of the end of days, others are likely to find it cathartic, or even reassuring. There are few, if any, holiday movies that speak to what people are experiencing in 2020, and though Anna and the Apocalypse is not a literal representation, its symbolism is deeply resonant today.
WARNING: Major spoilers for Anna and the Apocalypse ahead
Though it confronts dark themes, Anna and the Apocalypse is not devoid of hope. In fact, over the course of the film, its characters overcome great odds to gain a greater sense of hope. Unsurprisingly, the zombie apocalypse creates a lot of change and the characters must adapt to shattered plans and personal losses. The film’s ending is not unanimously victorious, as expertly foreshadowed in its popular song “Hollywood Ending.” The song goes as far as to state: “This is not / The story you’ve been dreaming of / The one where you get all you want…” And indeed, the audience does not get a ‘Hollywood Ending’ where everyone survives with all their dreams fulfilled.
During an atypical and certainly less than idyllic holiday season, Anna and the Apocalypse inspires its audience by depicting characters who persevere through their trauma and still take time to grieve their losses. Though Nick, Steph, and Anna are the film’s sole survivors, they escape Little Haven to a reprise of “Hollywood Ending,” where they celebrate the triumph of their survival, even as it is marked by the pain of what they have gone through. There will still be trouble ahead, but the first sparks of joy are beginning to peek through.
Even the characters who tragically became zombies are not totally lost. In a room full of the undead, lovers Chris and Lisa—now zombies—shuffle towards each other, brushing hands. When John awakens in his zombified state, he reaches up to turn on the lights of his beloved Christmas sweater, telling the audience that even the movie's fallen heroes have a little bit of hope. Anna and the Apocalypse grapples skillfully with the hardships that we face while still celebrating moments of happiness, and during the uncharted territory of the 2020 holiday season, this message rings truer than ever.
