Zombi Child Uses Zombies to Explore Something Deeply Human

At the intersection of a fairy tale and a cautionary tale lies Bertrand Bonello’s Zombi Child. The newest film from the director of the 2017 feature Nocturama, Zombi Child concerns Melissa (Wislanda Louimat), who has just moved to a new school in France from her old life in Haiti. Melissa feels isolated in this environment, though she eventually finds a friend in Fanny (Louise Labeque). Her new pal is part of a very exclusive clique that eventually allows Melissa to become its newest member. Even with four new friends, Melissa still feels lonely, mostly because Fanny and her cohorts tend to (both intentionally and unintentionally) treat Melissa as an "other" in their lives.

Live In The Chaotic And Gruesome Here And Now With Nocturama

There isn't much in the way of background established for the lead characters of Nocturama in its opening scenes. We just get to follow a handful of college-aged young adults going about assorted pieces of business, with only minimal amounts of accompanying of dialogue, with this array of individuals occasionally bumping into each other amidst their routines before it's revealed that they're all in some kind of close-knit group together. There's a subtly intense vibe created here, an undercurrent of espionage that director Bertrand Bonello is able to sew into the fabric of seemingly mundane sequences.