Disclaimer: This article contains huge spoilers for Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End. Reader discretion is advised.
Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End follows an arduous journey of viewers with Manel, a man who lost his wife Julia in a car accident. Manel's survival battle unfolds as a deadly virus called TSJ starts turning people into zombies.
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Directed by Carles Torrens and an adaptation of Manel Loureiro's novel, the movie captures Manel's life in isolation, as he defends himself against unrelenting hordes of zombies, with only his cat, Luculo, being his companion. Given food shortages, not to mention the gruesome visual results of the virus, Manel stays in his apartment before taking off on a mission of hope to escape this unrelenting disaster.
Finally, he allies with Victor, a Ukrainian member of his crew, as his final hope on this road. As Apocalypse Z climaxes in an attempt to kill, viewers wonder if Manel will survive his passage through the Canary Islands. A more detailed scenario about Manel and some twists for a happy ending finish Apocalypse Z.
Manel’s journey on Apocalypse Z is that of love, loss, and survival
The film starts by narrating the past of Manel and Julia. Returning from his sister Belen's house, an argument in the car turns hot between the two and leads to a car crash that turns fatal for Julia, who dies. Manel is left in shock and is seen suffering from acute guilt throughout the movie.
According to Film Fugitives, Manel isolates himself from the world; he stays only with his cat and is haunted by the after-effects of the accident. Shortly after that, the TSJ virus starts spreading throughout the world and creates a global outbreak in the manner of rabies, which makes the infected person a ravenous and aggressive zombie on Apocalypse Z.
Manel is so depleted of supplies that the elderly neighbor he encounters and murders is an elderly woman named Gabriela, who had been left behind in all the commotion. The encounter with Manel is brief but pivotal to his survival, gathering more supplies. Then Gabriela resolves to kill herself to avoid being a burden, thus energizing Manel to survive and enter into an apocalyptic world.
Meeting Victor and facing new dangers on Apocalypse Z
In a final attempt to flee, Manel is rescued by a commercial vessel after being spotted by a Ukrainian sailor named Victor. Victor is instrumental in persuading the ship's captain to allow Manel and Luculo on board, claiming that Manel's knowledge of engineering could be a vital asset in helping them navigate through the many unknown situations they may encounter.
However, the ship is far from safe, with Manel sensing something ominous is about to happen, as he realizes that the true intentions of the crew may be darker than they appear. Despite Victor's warnings, Manel's suspicions are further heightened when he discovers men imprisoned on the ship in very terrible conditions.
Manel's will to escape gets stronger and takes him to a final battle as he tries to liberate the hostages on Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End. Sadly, not everyone is fortunate enough to leave, as Victor gets wounded.
They both survived as they fled together; however, it was through necessity, since Manel discovered that Victor was a pilot. This was a skill that could be their last way of escaping from the nightmare they were destined to experience on the ship.
Showdown at the hospital in Apocalypse Z and an uncertain future
The climax brought them to the hospital, that very same place where Julia died a year ago, leading to Manel experiencing not only memories that pained him, but also the will to fight and survive. Some survived with him. An elderly nurse Cecilia, and Lucia, among other many orphaned children, led Manel to create a plan on how they could board a helicopter, which might carry them over into the Canary Islands.
Using makeshift barricades, Manel manages to push Victor and others inside the helicopter. Manel bravely holds off the zombies behind his back so that Victor would be able to escape. In a very exciting finale, Manel escapes via a helicopter.
Just when Manel is finally feeling a sense of peace, the sister's voice on the phone from Belen warns him of the Canary Islands, and so the audience of Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End, waits for the final scene to fade into black.
Will there be an Apocalypse Z sequel?
Since the story is a part of Loureiro's trilogy, with the first book being the base of the story, a sequel is definitely needed to clarify some of the remaining burning questions. There are so many unanswered doubts about the origin of the virus, Victor's fate, and whether the Canary Islands itself is a safe haven or not.
As Film Fugitives wrote, the strength of zombie fiction is in the ways it can be used to tell stories about human resiliency, and the beauty of Apocalypse Z lies in the way it takes a dark, dystopian theme and pits it against a bleak landscape to survive.
It would be exciting to see the fans of the franchise eagerly anticipate the sequel and see what new adversities await Manel, Victor, and Luculo.
Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is available with a subscription to Prime Video for those interested in viewing this intense survival journey.
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