Thankful For Movie Musicals: Ray J's Review - "Anna and The Apocalypse"

Christmas, Zombies, Musicals! Oh My!🎅🎄🧟🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🎶🎵 That mashup is what's in store for you in the delight that is 2018's "Anna and The Apocalypse"! A film that I'm sure many people have never seen or heard of before. While it probably won't be for everyone, this flick is an extremely well executed, highly enjoyable watch, that features a non-overly produced soundtrack filled with songs that give off a sense of hope😄💚❤️ I love it!

Coincidentally, the film takes place in Scotland at Christmastime, during a worldwide pandemic, and revolves around a young woman named Anna Shepherd (played by Ella Hunt). Anna is about to finish school, and plans to take a year off to travel Australia before attending University, and her father (played by Mark Benton) is not happy with her decision to do so. She also has a group of friends dealing with their own everyday crap! John (played by Malcolm Cumming), Anna's best friend, is secretly in love with her, Lisa (played by Marli Siu) is hard at work preparing for the school's Christmas show, Chris (played by Christopher Lenaux), Lisa's boyfriend, is struggling in school and was told by one of his teachers that he has nothing important to say, and Steph (played by Sarah Swire) an awkward transfer student that always seems to be getting into it with the school's creepy vice principal, Mr. Savage (played by Paul Kaye). On the evening of the school's Christmas show, Anna and John are working for the night at the local bowling alley, Steph has recruited Chris to help film a project about homeless shelters for the school's blog, and Lisa is putting on, well "quite" the performance at school😂🎤🎶😳 Little do they know that this is a night that will change their lives forever, and possibly end some of them too🤐💀🧟‍♂️ Completely oblivious to the crumbling world around them, the next morning Anna and John head to school with a musical number declaring a new sense of confidence, "Turning My Life Around"🎶 As the song conveniently ends in a cemetery, they get quite the surprise!! The world that they used to know is no more, and now they must try to make their way to a safe place. In the meantime, having been there the evening before, Lisa, Chris's Grandmother, and Anna's Dad are all safe, and waiting to be reunited with their loved ones....although that nasty Principal Savage may have other plans. Having made their way safely to the bowling alley, Anna, and John are surprised to see Chris and Steph hiding out there as well! It's a full on Zombie apocalypse out there, due to the strand of infection from the pandemic😱 Doing as they are instructed, they must figure out a plan to try and make it to the high school safely in hopes of reuniting with their loved ones, and be escorted out of town by the army.

While "Anna and The Apocalypse" does feature a bit of blood and gore, the comedy, emotional arcs of the characters, and music is where this film really glows💚❤️🎄🎶 The movie also recites some surprising timely messages. Even though this came out in 2018, the film makes you feel a certain way at times while watching it...especially with everything that has occurred in the world just two years after it's release! At one point there is a gag where one of the character's goes on their computer and pulls up a hashtag featuring people taking selfies with zombies, then a line in the script literally two seconds later, "Humans deserve to go extinct"😂🤷‍♂️

All of the characters are great, and I particularly enjoy Anna, John, Steph, and Lisa the best. Even though you are meant to hate the vice principal's character, I'm sure if that wasn't the case I still wouldn't like the character of Mr. Savage😂 In fact his solo song was the only one in the film that I truly did not like as well. The rest of the music is awesome! My personal favorites are the opening song "Break Away", "Hollywood Ending" (a super fun, and edgy High School Musical - esque cafeteria number), "Turning My Life Around", "Human Voice" (a song with a powerful message about when technology fails us, and there is no one out there to reach out to), "Give Them A Show", and "I Will Believe"💚🎶

Consensus: If you like Christmas (and who doesn't like Christmas), musicals, and can deal with a bit of blood+gore, then "Anna and the Apocalypse" is SO worth your time😄🎅🎄💚❤️🎶🧟‍♂️🧟

I honestly wish more people knew about this movie, because I think it could be a bigger hit! The characters are very likable, + rootable and the music ranges from feel-good pop to Christmassy humor😁👍👍🎬

The Ray J's Reviews rating is

5 out of 5 thankful hands and music notes

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