Unhuman (2022), An Unrefreshing and Unconvincing Zombie Comedy
In the past, I’ve had a lot to say about the zombie comedy genre. I’m not the only one, either. Zombie films make great targets for political and social readings, and zombie comedies have, by and large, been made in a postmodern and perhaps post-postmodern world, where anything and everything is meta-fiction and aware of its own inspirations. These films poke fun at zombies while simultaneously using the cinematic and narrative elements that define them. Shaun of the Dead is among the best of these films, and since it came out nearly two decades ago, many lesser films have tried and failed to recreate its cynical take on consumerism and deadpan humor. Marcus Dunstan’s Unhuman (2022), the most recent endeavor in the zombie comedy subgenre, falls short in many respects, most notably for its weird moralism and inconsistent tone.
The story begins on the day of a class field trip with an ensemble of popular teens, unpopular teens, and those like Ever (Brianne Tju), who fall somewhere in between. We quickly see that Ever doesn’t have much self-esteem, and struggles with the fact that her best friend, Tamra (Ali Gallo), seems to forget their friendship anytime the “cool” kids come around. Various other subplots crop up early on to establish the relationships among the ensemble cast, but chief among them is the seemingly hopeless Randall (Benjamin Wadsworth), whose inability to fit in makes him the target of 80s-style high school bullies like Danny (Uriah Shelton).
As the students board the bus to leave, they are greeted by the strangely intense P.E. teacher and chaperone, Mr. Lorenzo (Peter Giles), and the sloven bus driver, Wayne (Tonny Donno). After an impassioned speech on the importance of experiencing nature first-hand, the group sets out on their journey. Along the way, a radio broadcast informs listeners that a chemical attack is taking place and that everyone should stay indoors. Seconds later, a red substance splatters all over the windshield, causing the bus to careen over the edge of the bridge and crash in the middle of the woods.
As the teens and adults recover from the impact, they hear strange noises, and a zombie fashioned after Alice Cooper attacks the bus, apparently killing Mr. Lorenzon and forcing the teens to flee in every direction. While some of the group don’t make it out, Ever and all of the “main” characters retreat to an abandoned building nearby. Despite their best efforts to hunker down and wait out the zombie apocalypse, the Alice Cooper zombie finds the building and begins hunting them down, with the help of the now zombified bus driver. The teens argue over what to do, all while their numbers dwindle, but Ever soon discovers that all is not as it seems.
The cracks begin to show pretty early on in Unhuman. You can see that a point is trying to be made about how the real inhuman (unhuman?) characters are the bullies, not the zombies, but even that stance gets flipped around before the final act. The film really hit its stride around the time the teens reach the abandoned building, but things quickly take a turn for the worse. There’s a brief attempt to copy Edgar Wright’s frenzied, over-the-top editing, but it gets abandoned after about two minutes. And the more we know and understand the characters, the more two-dimensional they become. Part of it could be chalked up to an intentional effort to mimic classic teen tropes, but it also tries to work in more modern Gen Z “jokes” about fat shaming and so on; you never really know how you’re supposed to feel about any of it, especially since the tonal shifts happen at random and without much justification.
I will admit that I did not see the film’s plot twist coming at all, but I won’t give any spoilers here. Unfortunately, the way in which the filmmakers reveal the twist feels half-hearted and rushed. We sort of understand what’s going on and can look back at the story in a new light, but ultimately, the revelated raises more questions than it answers. Unhuman does deserve some credit for going in a slightly different direction than most zombie comedies, but beyond a unique plot twist, it doesn’t do much worth remembering.
One of the strangest aspects of the film is the very strong moral posturing on the part of the writers. The characterization makes it very clear that bullies are bad from the start. Whether you’re an adult or a teen, you shouldn’t bully people. Later on, we’re supposed to sympathize with the bullies and hate the “losers,” who are painted as incels who deserve everything terrible that comes their way. It doesn’t really work well, as the filmmakers never tell us why the bullies deserve our sympathy or why (some) of the unpopular kids deserve our wrath.
The protagonist, Ever, also goes through a strange transformation that feels as unnatural to write about as it was to watch. She begins as the shy, sympathetic girl with the dorky haircut. She progresses to being the depressed girl who feels like “nothing” because nobody listens to her, and finally, she graduates to the badass girl boss with the cool hairstyle. Her journey really is as shallow and nonsensical as that. For the terrible cherry on top, she gives us a happy-go-lucky voiceover about the beauty of just being yourself to wrap things up nicely.
I’ve also failed to mention the severe lack of funny moments in this horror comedy. There were one or two chuckle-worthy lines, but they were nothing to write home about. The film doesn’t really set the characters up for comedic moments, and the story is more focused on the horrific and dramatic elements. So we’re left with an unconvincing teen drama that can’t really decide what it wants to be. Is bullying good or bad? Should comedy be funny? Can a zombie apocalypse be convincing to anyone if there are only a handful of zombies? These are the important questions that the makers of Unhuman should have asked before putting pen to paper.
Unhuman Movie Rating: ★½ out of 5
If you’d like to watch Unhuman (2022), it is currently available to stream, rent, or purchase on Amazon Prime. For more film reviews like this one, be sure to check out the rest of Philosophy in Film!
