Review of Z for Zachariah (2015) by Preston L — 07 Nov 2015

Zachariah is about a woman named Ann (Margot Robbie). She is living in a safe zone in a valley after a nuclear apocalypse, that happens to be on here family farmland. She discovers another survivor, a man called Loomis (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and they begin to work together to build a life together and begin to fall in love. This all gets more complicated when another man, Caleb (Chris Pine), finds his way to the camp and catches Ann's eye.

Things I Liked:

The Cast. This movie's cast is incredibly strong. Margot Robbie is an unbelievable actress and shows great maturity for her age and depth with her characters. Chris Pine reminds us that he is much more interesting and dynamic than other actors like him and is definitely more than a pretty face. Chiwetel Ejiofor is showing now that he deserves all the acclaim he has gotten in the past and will continue to be a powerhouse in the future. All three could carry the movie on their own and together they take control of this movie.

The Tension. This movie has a lot of tension throughout it and it really helps the movie a lot. This movie is a character film and so the actors have to pull the film along and the amount of tension between them is felt throughout the movie. This movie is driven by that tension and without it the movie would be much less interesting.

Things I Didn't Like:

The Plot. This movie has nothing happen in it beyond a love triangle. The movie is slow and there is a lot of time spent without anything to really drive the plot forward. It's mostly just a lot of the three cast member doing things and talking and that gets hard to watch at times. The moments are just too many for a long period of time. And there are other moments that really drive the dynamics along but they are few and far between.

Overall, the movie has a strong cast and a tense feeling but the story is slow and hard to focus on. The cast all give really deep and provoking performances. The movie is incredibly tense throughout but that gets hard to watch and not in the way that enhances the movie. This is a character development film and they don't develop fast enough, and not enough happens to make the movie completely interesting. A well made movie, but one that isn't memorable.