The Cured (2017) Reviews

• Zombie film with braaaains.

  troy-boulton2018-09-26

  If you are looking for a purely mindless crimson-sprayed gangrenous brain-gorging splatter-fest, The Cured is almost guaranteed to bore you to tears. Not that it is lacking its share of gore and heart-pounding zombie-runs, but this film is focused on the social and interpersonal dimensions of a post-infection world, rather than running for your life and mashing Zombie brains in order to keep your own grey matter off the menu. As a well-crafted tale about "othering", and the directed and broader impacts of the alienation of one group by a "well meaning" majority, this film, possibly unintentionally, delivers an almost perfect analogy for the impact to the broader gay community of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 90s. The film also maps successfully to the impact of demonising migrant, ethnic and religious groups (very possibly its intent, coming from Northern Ireland); take your resonant flavour of "othering" and insert here. A stark, brutal and effective expository. If you want to cook up extremists, this film delivers the recipe... As an experimental vehicle for the fabulous Ellen Page, this film didn't get the exposure it deserved - Page once again proves both her versatility and her ability to believably breathe gritty appeal into the characters she inhabits. The other key cast were equally compelling, save maybe for Paula Malcomson, who maybe didn't receive the best treatment from the production - she felt atypically undercooked as Dr Lyons. A must-see if you want some gore and splatter to go with a massage of your grey matter.

• Not everyone has seen In The Flesh

  lisadyoung2018-06-25

  This is my first review. there are no spoilers. I thought this was a good premise for a movie - not all of us live in the U.K., sadly. It was well written, very well acted, and I really quite enjoyed it. From someone who is really quite versed in the zombie genre, I thought it was comparable to The Girl With All The Gifts; a fresh take on the zombie narrative. I would recommend it, certainly, if you're a sucker for zombie films. Though it has a somewhat predictable plot, overall it was an enjoyable film, with some really interesting elements thrown in. I'll watch it again.

• Not very Original, 'In The Flesh' (2013) did it first and better

  edithp-374762018-03-04

  So this film is being touted as an 'original' take on the old zombie narrative, but the problem is that this has been done before and better with the superior tv drama 'In the flesh'. When exploring these themes and ideas it really helps to have the kind of breathing space and ability to take risks that you just don't get in a 95 minute movie. It's not a bad film, it's just annoying that it's being billed as something it is not. You'd kind of understand if it was a Hollywood take on things, but the writer and director is Irish, meaning that he'll be well aware of the tv drama content of the British Isles and has decided to basically rip it off shamelessly. This wouldn't be so bad if he'd improved upon things, but he really hasn't. An alright film, passes the time, but do yourself a favour if you like the concept and watch the superior 2013 BBC television drama, 'In the Flesh.'

• Good premise, poor execution

  temp3592018-12-21

  Slow and plodding. Minimally likeable protagonists. Confusing ending.

• The Cured: Stop calling these things zombie films

  Platypuschow2019-02-02

  I adore the zombie sub-genre, I've always had a real weakness for all things undead but it frustrates me when movies get released labelled as such when they blatantly aren't. This is such a movie, this is not zombies it's more of a 28 Days Later (2002) situation. Want an Irish zombie film? Watch Dead Meat (2004), watch Boy Eats Girl (2005), watch Portrait of a Zombie (2012) but one last time this in no way shape or form is a zombie film. Starring Ellen Page this Irish film tells the story of a world recovering from an outbreak of of virus that causes violence in its victims. 75% of those infected have now been cured while the remaining 25% are incarcerated while the government decides what to do with them. The movie is rife with social commentary of intolerance and bigotry against "The cured" and it rings true to current affairs. It makes for uncomfortable viewing in places for this reason and uncomfortable viewing in other places for a reason I can't quite put my finger on. As the credits rolled I felt very uneasy and hadn't liked what I witnessed. The idea is solid, the execution is a bland boring lifeless tale that didn't engage me at all. In the right hands I can imagine this being a very entertaining feature, but what we have here is as entertaining as an episode of Neighbors (1985-) played in reverse, upside down, in black & white with a watermark over the video of a wiener. The Good: Great idea Solid social commentary The Bad: Simply not very interesting Uncomfortable viewing