(CCR Original Content) Cargo Review [Spoiler Free Review & Spoiler Section below picture] (7/10)
Cargo is a 2017 post-apocalyptic horror/drama movie directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke with screenplay by Ramke. Producers on the film included Russell Ackerman, Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings and Mark Patterson. The movie was produced by Umbrella Entertainment, Addictive Pictures, Causeway Filmsnd Head Gear Films and distributed by Netflix. The film stars actors Martin Freeman, Simone Landers, Anthony Hayes, David Gulpilil, Susie Porter and Caren Pistorius.
Short on food and supplies on the house boat they live on, Kay (Susie Porter) and their baby Rosie wait as her husband Andy (Martin Freeman) searches an abandoned sailboat. Later he awakes to find Kay bleeding from a bite wound after going to search for additional supplies on the same sailboat. They set out to find a hospital but crash when he swerves to avoadi hitting a man who appears in the road. Andy passes out from seeing Kay impaled from the accident only to wake up and be bitten by her as she has turned into a zombie. He prepares to attack the man from the road but is surprised when a young Aboriginal girl named Thoomi (Simone Landers) appears and says not to hurt her father. Andy and his daughter Rosie must trek across a post-apocalyptic Australia in a race against time to find a safe place for her as he is now infected by a time-sensitive virus which turns people into zombies after 48 hours.
This movie was a decent zombie flick. I think it benefitted in being filmed in Australia giving it a different setting from most other zombie movies and from being more character driven plot wise. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a lot of zombie action and it really wasn't that scary. What it lacked in that department though it really made up for in keeping the tension as Andy has to take care of a baby during the zombie apocalypse. Plus the premise was pretty unique as the main character already knows he only has a certain amount of time and so he's on the clock from the get go to accomplish his mission. To me it seemed like a fresh take or a unique version in the zombie genre. This movie had quite a few emotional scenes too as was expected with the premise. I really want to say more but feel like I'm already giving away too much in the spoiler free section, so I'll save the rest for the spoiler section. I give this movie a 6/10.
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Spoiler Review Section:
I like this movie. I mean an emotional journey of a father trying to find a safe place and people to take care of his baby daughter before he turns into a zombie is a great premise. Martin Freeman also puts on quite a good performance as he portrays the character Andy on this journey. The backdrop of Australia was beautiful as the setting in this movie too. This film has a well written plot and tense atmosphere but for me personally didn't quite reach fare enough into the horror genre to scare you and not enough zombie action. What it did have was added tension from the characters of other survivors and not knowing how they would deal with Andy being infected. I really liked some of the small details like how the little girl Thoomi made modifications to her shoes so her mother couldn't find her tracks or how she painted her face with stuff to hide her smell from the zombies. I even liked the villain's motivations and reasoning because they seemed realistic and very believable. Still it has me on the fence a bit because it feels like it was missing something when being considered a zombie movie. I wanted to rate it higher but personally feel like it deserves the score of 7/10.