CARGO REVIEW: an Australian zombie-fest-walkabout of a terrific film…

Just when you think the zombie genre has no new stories to tell, along comes the heartbreaking Aussie undead drama “Cargo,” anchored by another wonderfully committed performance from Martin Freeman.

Opened out from their 2013 short film of the same name, Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke’s feature-length film debut Cargo begins with Freeman’s (The Office, The Hobbit and Sherlock fame) Andy travelling on a river boat, with his wife Kay (Susie Porter) and baby daughter Rosie. But this is no holidaying picnic.

Instead, it’s a desperate bid for survival. The world’s already decimated by a “virus.”

Slowly moving down an Australian river, discussing how long before they’ll have to go ashore to get food. They see another family on the shore and Andy makes eye contact. The adult male in that group responds by lifting his shirt to reveal a gun.

This is the world now. And the filmmakers have very cleverly set up the multiple enemies of “Cargo” in that they haven’t opened with a zombie attack but concern about rations on water and distrustful humans on land.

Things go from bad to worse for Andy and his family, Therefore Andy has two days to find somebody to take care of his infant daughter, after he is chomped on by his newly turned wife Kay, and the shit literally hits the fan.

The time it takes for a bitten person to transform into a slobbering, brains-hungry ghoul in a zombie movie is often commensurate to the importance of the character.

So the clever new addition to the zombie genre in “Cargo” is that those bitten by the undead don’t turn instantly like in so many other movies.

Those who are bitten have 48 hours before they “turn.” And so people literally put on what looks like a FitBit with a timer that reads “48:00”. This makes for a film that’s more about what you would do if you only had two days left to live than what actually kills you.

How far would you go to make sure your loved ones were protected? And finding a vaguely suitable – i.e. non-drooling, non-undead – foster parent is no easy task.

Andy and the tot trek across outback Australia, sussing out potential candidates while the clock ticks, accompanied by young Indigenous girl Thoomi (an exceptional performance from newcomer Simone Landers).

Thoomi believes people turn into monsters when they lose their souls, and it’s heart-breaking to see her still believe that her dad is still alive, and not a brain-munching corpse. But she’s also on the run, and not from the undead, but her mother and local tribe, who intend to clear their land from the infected, and that means Thoomi’s undead father.

There is no chance of Andy surviving the ‘zombie apocalypse’ because there is no cure. And the pandemic has, with decades of horror films conditioning us to expect this, caused some people to behave more ghoulishly than the ghouls.

None more so than violent gun-toting hick Vic, played with expert grubbiness by Anthony Hayes, whose BO practically seeps from the screen. This gun-toting lout has captured himself a bride (Caren Pistorius) and is looting the corpses of zombies, luring them with human bait, for when the world finally returns, Vic will be on top of the food-chain when it comes to trading.

But somewhat inevitably for a zombie story, Cargo becomes a movie about found family, and how it can be harmful or crucial, depending on the people involved.

“Cargo” is closer tonally to the source material for “The Walking Dead,” a work more interested in the survivors than the brain-eaters. While the film focuses on—the parental obligation to carry our children to safety—that it works better than most recent original Netflix genre movies.

It’s a bumpy journey through this “Outback of the Dead,” but there are some interesting stops along the way, and solid acting choices, too!

ABOVE: Cargo Premiere, Tribeca Film Festival 2018: (L-R) Kristina Ceyton, Yolanda Ramke, Martin Freeman, Ben Howling

The Babadook producer Kristina Ceyton came on board for this full-length flesh out, as did Martin Freeman (perfect as the everyday man in extraordinary circumstances) and key talent including veteran cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson, who shot Shine.

A must watch for a slow evening of gore-related fun and games.

3.5/5 STARS