While preparing an episode of the British edition of the reality show Big Brother a zombie begins to infect several people who must arrive at the recording studio.
Despite some organizational problems the live broadcast is imposed. Contestant Pippa (Kathleen McDermott) is eliminated from the house and everything is already ready for the interviews. But the zombies are also multiplying on the set...
Remarkable five-episode zombies miniseries conceived by Charlie Brooke, known in his homeland for several comedy series, and first broadcast on the broadcaster E4 in the run-up to Halloween 2008.
Taking a cue from Romerian opera and English-themed cinema (28 Days Later), a very suspenseful story is crafted, thanks in part to several over-the-top characters, (almost) all of whom are excellently drawn even with just a few lines.
The choice of reality show becomes a device to contrast a fabricated reality, i.e., the lives of the contestants of the Big Brother, busy putting on a show with themselves but still safe from the outside world, and the real world that is becoming a nightmare, a journey with no return to Hell.
And the finale, very striking in terms of photography, becomes a bit circular, closing that circle opened with the indication of the day the contestants will stay inside the house.
Most notable among the many characters (several real reality show contestants) are producer Patrick (Kyle Summercorn), an exaggeration of the cynical, boorish man literally to death, and Kelly (Jaime Winstone), arguably the film's real protagonist, who is the key character, the link between the house and the outside world, but who nevertheless comes off as the least convincing of the entire miniseries. But, at the end of the day, it is only a trifle on the final result.
Also noteworthy is how no real explanation is deliberately given for the zombie invasion and how, when tensions become high, often brilliant and hilarious jokes are inserted.
It will probably be remembered as yet another excellent British test on the subject.
Review by Zick
