Move over, Katniss and Tris – Z for Zachariah ratchets up the tension on the post-apocalyptic romance genre, enlisting the furiously talented trio of Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Chris Pine to play the corners of a love triangle that emerges when a scientist (Ejiofor) shacks up with a naive mountain girl (Robbie) in the aftermath of a devastating nuclear war, only for their relationship to be threatened by the arrival of another charismatic survivor with eyes for the girl.
The new trailer for the pic, which was adapted from Robert C. O’Brien’s acclaimed novel, is perhaps most exciting in that it marks a very different type of project for director Craig Zobel, who previously helmed nail-bitingly tense drama Compliance and small-time comedy Great Wall of Sound. One of the connecting threads between those two films was Zobel’s handle on the human element, and that’s something the post-apocalypse has been largely lacking in recent years, with lots of pretty faces regularly surrounded by pricey special effects but absent any signs of relatable emotion. Zobel seems like the kind of director who should be able to reach into an overstuffed genre and emerge with something truly original.
Here’s the synopsis:
In the wake of a nuclear war, a young woman survives on her own, fearing she may actually be the proverbial last woman on earth, until she discovers the most astonishing sight of her life: another human being. A distraught scientist, he’s nearly been driven mad by radiation exposure and his desperate search for others. A fragile, imperative strand of trust connects them. But when a stranger enters the valley, their precarious bond begins to unravel. Z FOR ZACHARIAH is inspired by the novel of the same name by Robert C. O’Brien, published posthumously in 1974, and was created by Pall Grimsson and adapted for the screen by Nissar Modi (Breaking At The Edge).
Z for Zachariah arrives on August 20.
