Before I go to my grave
There is good on this Earth
And it's worth trying to save." - Anna in the song Give Them a Show, Anna and the Apocalypse
Doing a zombie Christmas movie would already be an unusual prospect. But Anna and the Apocalypse goes a step further by doing a zombie Christmas movie that's also a musical. The worst version of this project would probably be some kind of weirdo mixture of Deck the Halls, Prides & Prejudice & Zombies and Glee. Thankfully, it's more on the order of Krampus, Zombieland and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend getting put into a blender. The combination doesn't work 100% of the time but that's to be expected from something that's trying to do so much at once. On the whole, Anna the Apocalypse works more often than not at delivering some macabre yuletide fun.
So who is Anna (Ella Hunt)? She's a High School senior who's eager to break out of her suffocating small town and explore the world. That's not exactly music to the ears of her father nor her best friend John (Malcolm Cumming). Her ambitions are hindered once a small obstacle in the form of a zombie apocalypse begins to transpire. Now trapped in a bowling alley with John, Anna must figure out how to survive in the face of the end of the world. Simultaneously, at her High School, headmaster Arthur Savage (Paul Kaye) does everything he can to maintain power over the people trapped inside, which happens to include Anna's father.
Hailing from director John McPhail and writers' Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry, Anna and the Apocalypse, thankfully, doesn't just rely on the shock value of seeing musical numbers dished out in the middle of bloody zombie carnage to carry the whole movie. After all, though not the default approach for movie musicals, there's been plenty of Broadway shows that have merged together the gory and the musical. To ensure that it has some deeper purpose, Anna and the Apocalypse ends up becoming a yarn about the imperfections of life. Life is not full of "Hollywood Endings" (to quote one of its big showstopper tunes) and Anna's journey through the apocalypse is full of struggles that end with less than ideal outcomes.
Considering how often zombie projects like The Walking Dead end up wallowing in post-apocalyptic nihilism, Anna and the Apocalypse's brand of quiet hope in the face of misery is a refreshing change of pace. It's one of the numerous ways Anna and the Apocalypse helps to stand out in the crowded field of zombie comedies beyond just the presence of musical numbers. This vital thematic part of Anna and the Apocalypse proves particularly resonant in the modern era as we all look for hope in the middle of the Coronavirus epidemic. Anna and the Apocalypse can offer us all a helpful & timely reminder of how, though, life rarely turns out like we want, we shouldn't let disappointment stop us from fighting for the world.
If there is one weak part of this zombie-musical-comedy equation, it's that the comedy has a tendency to feel more phoned in than it should. There are some inspired gags in here but Anna also has its fair share of more predictable jokes. This is especially true in terms of dialogue jokes centered on modern technology that constantly feel like the writers pulling a "How do you do, fellow kids?". Meanwhile, the musical numbers have a far greater rate of success. Thankfully, these musical numbers are more on the order of a traditional musical where the lyrics actually relate to specific characters and situations instead of being generic Greatest Showman pop ditties. Instead of being written to be played on a pop radio station without altering the lyrics, the songs in Anna actually advance the plot and reflect character development.
Not only are those my preferred type of musical numbers but going this route allows Anna and the Apocalypse's musical numbers to be imbued with the movies' distinct tone. You're never gonna get Hollywood Ending or Give Them a Show (my two favorite tunes) mistaken for showstoppers in another musical. Director John McPhail doesn't rewrite the book in how he captures these set pieces. However, he captures them solidly and works remarkably well with delivering exciting spectacle in low-budget confines. They may not have anywhere near the gargantuan budget of Disney's Lion King remake, but Anna and the Apocalypse blow that movie's musical numbers out of the water in terms of fun and creativity. It's not about the size of your budget, it's how you use it. In the case of Anna and the Apocalypse, it uses its budget to tell a delightfully off-kilter musical horror comedy that would have proved enjoyable under any circumstances. Under these current Coronavirus-inspired circumstances, though, its central message of clinging onto hope (and musical numbers!) while facing dire circumstances proves especially effective.
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