Director: David Matalon
Writer: David Matalon (Screenplay)
Starring: Liam McIntyre, Aundrea Smith, Steven Swadling, Sydelle Noel
Plot: A father must battle his way through the zombie apocalypse to save his daughter.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow Movie Zombie
Story: The Clearing starts as Tom (McIntrye) reluctantly takes his daughter Mira (Smith) on a camping trip to spend time bonding, they have started to become distant over the recent years and his wife Naomi (Noel) believes this will bring them closer again.
The camping trip does start awkward, as the two need to first put aside their differences, only for the first morning to take a dramatic twist, when the two come under attack by zombies, with Tom stranded in the campervan, he must hope Mira is safe.
Thoughts on The Clearing
Characters – Tom is a distant father, who doesn’t always want to spend time with his daughter, he reluctantly goes on a camping trip with her, where he must first convince her, he wants to see her before they can enjoy their time together, only he finds himself alone when a zombie outbreak hits them and he must hope his daughter can defend herself. Mira is the daughter, she has hit the technology stage of life, where she doesn’t want to be around her father, she doesn’t feel like she is what he wants, which is what he must convince her about. She gets stuck outside with the zombies, using her former nature training to stay alive.
Performances – Liam McIntyre must do most of the work here, he is the distant father, the man that believes he has lost his daughter, who knows he can’t risk too much to get out alive, while also showing the broken side of his character if things have gone wrong, he shows us the emotional rollercoaster his character must go on, though the accent isn’t the most convincing. Aundrea Smith brings the moody kid to life, while not being overly involved once the attack happens.
Story – The story here follows a father trying to rebuild his relationship with his daughter, only to find himself needing to fight off zombies in a sudden outbreak, where he doesn’t know if his daughter or safe or not. This is kept to a simple story, of a father needing to survive in any hope of saving his daughter. We don’t get too much focus on the rebuilding the relationship, as more of the story is set on the father trying to survive, while seemingly constantly making bad decisions and somehow survive each moment, it does leave you shaking your head at certain moments that happen.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from seeing how the zombies are attacking, while not much fresh comes from the attacks.
Settings – The film does maintain one location, the clearing for the camping where we attack happens, it does show us just how helpless he is.
Scene of the Movie – The opening attack.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Decision making.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the book zombie movie that is filled with terrible decisions even though it does create a smart location for setting.
Overall: Bad Decision Zombie Movie
