German cartoonist and author Olivia Vieweg adapts her own comic, Endzeit, for the screen with Ever After, directed by Swedish filmmaker Carolina Hellsgård.
Two years after a zombie epidemic devastated the world, the only uninfected cities in Germany are Weimar and Jena. Two twentysomethings, Vivi (Gro Swantje Kohlhof) and Eva (Maja Lehrer), venture from Weimar to Jena, each fighting their own inner demons alongside the literal undead they encounter across the German wilderness.
Ecology is key to Ever After in that humankind’s mistreatment of the natural world is attributed as a cause for the epidemic, while zombies of varying degrees of infection have plant life growing on them. Without spoiling anything major, this also includes an apparent half-human, half-zombie character our leads encounter on their journey.
Earth is very much bringing its once dominant species back to nature. The resulting production design and unique all-women focus keep Ever After engaging despite narrative sag.
