‘Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay it is that I think George A. Romero himself would have liked it’
Martin Freeman’s new zombie thriller Cargo dropped on Netflix on Friday, and the critics have been quick to hail a worthy new entry into that most enduring of genres.
Like any good zombie flick, Cargo uses the shuffling undead as both a violent threat and a reflection of our own humanity – and inhumanity – while presenting a compelling and intimate family drama.
The film features Martin Freeman as a man on the run, with just 48 hours until a zombie virus takes him over and turns him into an unthinking monster.
Before then he must find a new guardian for his infant child, but in a world where every stranger could be another monster-in-waiting, finding someone he trusts enough to take care of his baby is not an easy task, especially with a world of zombies closing in on him and anyone he crosses paths with.
Clip via Netflix
An adaptation of the 2013 Australian short film (just seven minutes long) of the same name, Cargo comes from the producers behind The Babadook.
At time of writing, Cargo boasts an 89% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with some critics comparing it favourably to George A. Romero, who famously popularised the zombie genre with the likes of Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.
The Times hails a return to form for Netflix original movies following recent disappointments including The Cloverfield Paradox, welcoming “an eerie, atmospheric and unexpectedly poignant zombie thriller.”
Matt Donato over at Slashfilm, meanwhile, invokes an increasingly divisive zombie juggernaut in his write-up:
“I don’t mean to keep throwing The Walking Dead under the spike-tired dystopian bus, because other zombie dramas have tried the same thematic capitalisation and failed, but Cargo just does it better. For the most part.”
Variety’s take having caught the film at the Tribeca Film Festival last month, praises Freeman’s lead performance, noting that his “empathetic turn makes for an endearing centre of attention, and the film — even for those who’ve seen its source material — a heartfelt entry in the overstuffed genre.”
Elsewhere, BBC Radio 5 Live critic Mark Kermode described Freeman as “terrific” in a film that has a “very, very dark undercurrent.”
