CARGO

Australia, 2017, 105 minutes, Colour.
Martin Freeman, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter, Caren Pistorius, Kris Mc Quade, Natasha Wanganeen, Bruce R.Carter, Simone Landers, David Gulpilil.
Directed by Yolanda Ramke, Ben Hollows.

Were one to ask the average filmgoer whether they wanted to see a zombie film or not, the answer, most likely, is not. On the other hand, a younger demographic might well answer that they would. And, whatever the age or generation, aficionados of the long spate of zombie films, especially in recent decades, as well as television series like The Walking Dead, might well rush to say that they definitely would.

Best to say immediately, Cargo is a zombie film.

Best to say immediately afterwards, Cargo is not your usual zombie film and it could well have a much wider appeal than just for zombie fans.

It began life as a seven minute short film. The writer, Yolanda Ramke decided to expand the short into feature length and joined with fellow-director, Ben Hollows, to make this feature. They went out into the landscapes of South Australia, choosing desert landscapes, bush landscapes, the Murray River… All of which are filmed beautifully using helicopters and drones. This is a very attractive countryside for the living dead. Not that we see so many of the living dead. That is one of the more relaxing features of watching this film.

The focus throughout is on Andy, played with quite some sensitivity by British actor, Martin Freeman (best known for, take your pick, the Hobbit or Dr Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes). As with the quiet horror film, A Quiet Place, the setting is post-Apocalyptic, an epidemic not explained at all, decimating the population and turning many into the living dead. Andy is on a boat on the Murray with his wife Kay (Susie Porter) and their one-year-old baby, Rosie. They are in search of food, the parents wanting to protect their daughter at all costs.

It is not really a spoiler to say that Kay becomes infected and dies, leaving Andy to travel through the bush, trying to find food and shelter, with a wristband counting down 48 hours since he potentially became infected.

At the opening the film, a young aboriginal girl, Thoomi, is seen running through the desert. She will later appear again and become an important character in Andy’s journey to safety. In fact, with white paint on her face, she has been feeding her transformed father and is in search of the Cleverman who has the power, she thinks and hopes, to heal her father.

Andy meets very few people along the way, only a smattering and scattering of the living dead. He gets to the small town and meets a former teacher who is very hospitable (Kris Mc Quade) who urges him on. He rescues a man pinioned by cylinders, Vic (Anthony Hayes) who has been working on a gas line who takes him to his temporary home where he finds the wife of one of the workers, Lorraine (Caren Pistorius). One of Vic’s pastimes is to put a zombie in a cage which then is a taunt to the other living dead to come to consume it, meanwhile firing his rifle to destroy as many zombies as possible. He urges Andy to learn to fire a rifle and join in.

Time is running out, and Andy wants to find a safe place and sympathetic people to look after Rosie. He does encounter a family – but that turns out tragically for the family. He persuades Thoomi that she has done her best for her father and she then serves as a guide and protector for Andy and Rosie.

What makes this film different from so many other zombie films which concentrate on the horror and gore and the dangers of infection and madness, is a deep humanity in Andy, audience response to the care for the baby, and Martin Freeman’s very sympathetic performance as is that of Simone Landers as Thoomi.

The aboriginal theme pervades the film, the latecomer to the land being infected, some aborigines, who are able to listen to the land, escaping infection and providing shelter and hope among them for the little white baby. The film released in cinemas in Australia but was booked for almost immediate screening on Netflix.

1. A post-apocalyptic story, world epidemic, survival, transformation to the living dead, a zombie film?

2. An Australian story, South Australian settings, the nature photography, aerial and drone shots? The landscapes, the desert, vegetation? The River Murray? The gas fields, the towns, the Bush? Atmosphere? The blending of beauty with the sinister? The musical score?

3. The title, Andy and his carrying Rosie, to protect her?

4. The introduction to Thoomi, in the desert, running, her presence, care for her father, his being a zombie, licking the blood from the tree, getting food and putting it into the pit? Her quest for the Cleverman, his healing powers? The encounter with Andy, with Rosie? In the cage? Vic and his menace? Her mother and the others searching for her? Painting her face, protection from the spirits?

5. Andy and Kay, on the boat, with Rosie? Concern, care, love, protection? Seeing the family picnicking on the riverbank? The yacht, the need for food, Andy collecting it, Kay going into the boat, the noise, her being wounded? The measurement on her wrist for 48 hours? Her being firm, wanting to make the decision? Andy, binding her wounds, care for her, to get her to the hospital? Kay, the injury, her being transformed, death and burial?

6. Andy and Rosie, walking through the desert, looking for the town? The small town, Etta and her survival, the teacher, the photos, the photo with Thoomi? Helping, fondness for the baby? Sending them on?

7. The range of zombies, wandering the countryside, the noise, roaming together, destruction?

8. Andy and his encounter with Vic, the vehicle, Vic stuck, Andy helping him, getting him out of the hole, from the zombies? His house, Lorraine, the situation? His explanations? The death of the others at the gas plant, Lorraine’s husband? Her having to live with Vic? Lorraine, tea, shelter, care of Rosie? Vic, the rifles, with Andy, teaching about shooting, the vampires drawn to the cages? Their being shot? Andy and his reaction?

9. The possibility for escape, Vic catching the group? Lorraine trying to protect, her being shot? Andy and Thoomi in the cage? The zombies, and his ingenuity in getting the rope, their raising the cage, getting out? The escape?

10. Encountering the picnicking family again, the father with the gun, his wife and children playing, offering the gun and two bullets to Andy, the sound of his shooting his family and himself?

11. Andy and his progress, the hours left, the nights and the symptoms, the need for blood, transformations? Thoomi and her help, carrying the baby? Painting the baby for protection? Andy and his plea, not understanding her quest? Aboriginal rites being explained to him? Thoomi and her quest to help her father? Travelling? The decision to help Andy and the baby? The Railtrack, the tunnel, the zombies with their faces to the wall, Vic standing guard, the fight with Andy? His death?

12. Andy, coming to the end of his quest, learning from Thoomi, his plea to her?

13. The aborigines, survivors, the banner with No Fracking ? Their killing the zombies?

14. Andy, his death, the pathos, the farewell to Rosie? Thoomi, coming through the smoke, the family and their killing the zombies? Thoomi and Rosie being saved? Rejoining her family?

15. Andy, buried in the branches on the the tree?

16. The social issues in the background of the film? Indigenous people? Losing the land, but surviving on the land, returning to the land? And the acceptance of the white baby amongst aborigines?