A midwinter tale of green-sprouting zombies that is delightfully different and as refreshing as a green smoothie on a hot day, or maybe that should be a warm mug of milk on a cold day. Frightfest and Blue Finch Releasing present Brain Freeze on digital from the 6th of September.
Let me start this review with a statement: I’m not fond of golf; in fact, I hate it! There, I said it. Everything about golf makes me angry, from the fenced-off land used for just a privileged few to the snobbery surrounding each stuck-up clubhouse. Thankfully, it appears I am not alone in this anger, as Brain Freeze director and co-writer Julien Knafo takes a nine-iron to class, greed, golf, climate change denial and nationalism in his intelligent new zombie horror/comedy Brain Freeze.
At the heart of Knafo’s Quebec-based apocalypse is a golf course, where keeping the grass green and playable appears to trump any welfare concerns. It may be midwinter, but the golf course on Peacock Island is bright green, with not a sprinkling of snow covering its surface. This perfect green oasis is a new invention: a special fertiliser that allows grass to grow even in the coldest of climates; its bright green shoots melt any snow that dares to lie on its luscious carpet. But what would happen if this new fertiliser made its way into the water supply? Well, the residents of Peacock Island are about to find out!
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André (Iani Bédard) is a typical teen addicted to his phone, Coca-Cola, online video games and social media. Meanwhile, his health-nut mum is forever at work, while their Mexican maid looks after André’s baby sister in their small gated community. Just up the road, Dan (Roy Dupuis) holds a job as a security officer for the island’s wealthy communities while his daughter works at the local golf course, where she tends to the needs of the mega-rich. However, as a mysterious illness takes hold, turning the victims green and giving them a taste for their fellow residents, Dan, André, and his baby sister will find themselves thrown together as the apocalypse nears.
Knafo laces his zombie tale with bags of dry wit and humour while pointing his lens at themes of genetically engineered crops, environmental protection, human greed, and wealth. But Brain Freeze doesn’t stop there. It also dissects themes of borders, immigration, and growing global nationalism with a sharp satirical knife.
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However, with so many ideas and political discussions at play, Brain Freeze also sometimes trips up on its own intelligence, with the runtime never allowing for a broader exploration of many of the discussions it attempts to raise. However, the sheer bravery of the screenplay and its ability to transcend the bog-standard zombie flick are admirable, and André and Dan’s engaging odd-couple dynamic is a joy to watch. The result is a midwinter tale of green-sprouting zombies that is delightfully different and as refreshing as a green smoothie on a hot day, or maybe that should be a warm mug of milk on a cold day. Whichever you prefer, Brain Freeze bathes in its creativity and vision, and that’s rare in a cinematic world of tried and tested zombie flicks.
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