It should’t be a surprise that the female producers of the now-classic horror film, The Babadook, would take on a meditation on parenthood during the zombie apocalypse, and yet that’s exactly what we’ve got in the upcoming Netflix film, Cargo. It stars Martin Freeman as a dad who’s been bitten by zombies, and has 48 hours to find safety for his baby before he completely turns. Check out the intense trailer above!
Cargo started life as a powerful short film written by Australian writer, Yolanda Ramke, and directed by Ramke and Ben Howling. The short film is entirely without dialogue, and the father has three hours, not two days, to get his daughter to other human beings after being bitten by his wife. As we slowly watch him turn, we see him doing his dad best to keep his child entertained and happy, even as he takes precautions to keep himself from eating her as he walks in the direction of a safe area.
The Netflix feature is also written by Ramke and directed by her and Howling, and extends the journey to feature others that the dad, played by Martin Freeman, encounters along the way. This includes a young Aboriginal girl who leads him and his baby toward a man she knows who is rumored to be able to cure the zombie disease.
Not to get into spoiler territory, but I hope that the feature keeps true to the ending of the short film. To me, the poignancy of what a parent is willing to do and go through to protect their child would be lost without that. Then again, seeing what Ramke and Howling have done with so little time (the original short film was just over seven minutes long), I’d imagine that even if the feature ends differently, it will be just as emotionally engaging. This film totally checks all my boxes, and I can’t wait to see it when it drops.
Cargo is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, and while it won’t be getting a theatrical release, it will be coming to Netflix on May 18.
(via The Daily Dot, image: screencap)
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