Warm Bodies

A zombie movie with feelings shouldn't work. This one does.

R is a relatable zombie. Type that sentence out loud and tell me it doesn't sound ridiculous. But it's true. You can actually watch the emotion build in him as the movie goes on, and once you buy that, the whole thing clicks into place. It's a sneaky good film, and I mean sneaky in the best way. It crept up on me and I loved it.

It crept up on me and I loved it.

Nicholas Hoult is the engine. The guy just keeps showing up in stuff and being excellent, and at this point my ears perk up the second I see his name attached to anything. He's got that quality where he can do a ton with very little, which is exactly what a part like this needs. If he plays it even a hair too broad, the movie's dead on arrival. He doesn't. He nails it.

Teresa and Lio add a real lift to the thing. They're not just there to fill space around the lead; they pull their weight and then some. The movie's better for having them in it.

And John Malkovich is doing John Malkovich things, which is to say he shows up and the screen tilts a little in his direction. You know what you're getting and you're happy to get it.

The whole package surprised me. I sat down not expecting much and got a movie that stuck with me after the credits rolled. That's the test, right? Does it live in your head for a day or two? This one did.

I'd watch it again. I'd tell pretty much anyone to throw it on. A zombie love story that earns its emotion instead of mugging for it, with Hoult quietly carrying the whole thing. Sneaky good. I keep using that phrase because it keeps being true.