Warm Bodies, directed by Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane), isn’t so much a tale of boy-meets-girl as boy-eats-girl. Twilight may have come and gone but it seems there’s no stopping the phenomenon of love stories in which one partner may eat the other if they’ve had a bad day. Having said that, it is still rather surprising to see zombies, surely the least attractive and certainly the least articulate of the movie monsters, getting a piece of the romantic action. But here it is – the RomZomCom (as Shaun of the Dead put it) that places the zombie in the position of hero.
The zombie in question is R, played by Nicholas Hoult. In many ways he is the typical zombie – he spends his days shuffling around, grunting at his companions (including his “best friend” played by Rob Corddry) and going on the occasional trek to the nearby human stronghold to pick up someone to eat. In other aspects though, R is quite extraordinary amongst his kind. For one he has a personality, as we learn from the dry wit of his inner monologue. He also seems to be clinging onto his humanity, collecting trinkets and vinyl records left behind in the deserted suburbs. On one particular food run, R instantly falls for human Julie (Teresa Palmer) and saves her from his fellow zombies. As he becomes more fond of her, R begins to change, becoming more like the person he once was.
In his previous films, Levine has shown a talent for balancing sentiment with a hip, modern sensibility; Warm Bodies continues in this tradition. Though the narrative revolves around the transformative power of love, it does so without being schmaltzy and without shying away from the necessary unpleasantness of zombie existence – for example, its meet cute involves the male love interest chowing down on the brain of the female love interest’s boyfriend. Hoult, who I usually find a less than riveting screen presence, acquits himself well, his inexpressiveness coming into its own for this role. Palmer is a capable if non-descript female lead, while Corddry continues his tradition of scene-stealing with a few choice one-liners.
Warm Bodies is a sweet and funny zom-com with brains as well as heart and should play well to love struck teens as well as zombie movie aficionados.