Genre: Action / Adventure / Horror
Director: Mike Flanagan
Writer: Jimmy Ellis
Cast: Kyliegh Curran, Noah Jupe, Jeff Kober, Rosie Perez, Benedict Samuel, Christian Serratos, Freddie Highmore, Jim Beaver, Rene Russo
Plot: Over a year ago, an undead apocalypse afflicted the entire planet. Now, survivors are desperately making their way through wastelands to the scarce sanctuaries not yet overrun.
In northern Texas, 13 year old Audra (Kyliegh Curran) travels alone in a police cruiser. Upon arriving at a lonely gas station for a refill, Audra encounters a zombified cop. She stares at the soulless shell of the man with unspoken grief, before putting him down with two silenced gunshots to the head. Audra fills her tank and leaves before more zombies emerge from hiding places. As she drives, Audra examines her map: marked with a bold line all the way leading from Texas to the southern border of Canada labeled “THE HAVEN.”
Later that afternoon, Audra finds a small town with a supermarket not yet looted. While scavenging the aisles, Audra perks up upon hearing a British accented voice greeting her. She whirls around to see a boy, about her age, holding out a bandaged hand and meekly introducing himself as Paul (Noah Jupe). Without hesitation, Audra grabs her baseball bat and knocks Paul out cold. He awakens hours later, sitting on the ground with his hands and feet tied together. When Audra demands him to explain his bandaged hand, Paul insists he wasn’t bit, but cut his hand trying to start a campfire. Eventually, Audra is convinced and frees him. Paul explains he is from England, but was stranded in America when this whole ordeal began. Now, he is journeying to find his grandmother’s house near Wichita. Audra realizes Paul is working up the courage to ask her for a ride, and reluctantly agrees on the condition he surrender his weapons. Paul awkwardly assures that won’t be a problem, as he doesn’t have any weapons.
In the morning, Audra and Paul continue driving through the countryside. Paul explains that, when the apocalypse hit, he and his parents were stuck in an airport in Dallas. He was able to eventually escape, but the others “weren’t so lucky.” Paul asks Audra if her parents are dead too, but is met with the cold shoulder. When Paul attempts to liven the mood by turning on the radio, Audra slaps his hand away and reminds him that the zombies are attracted to noise.
Eventually, they arrive at the gated neighborhood where Paul’s grandmother lives. However, the streets are eerily empty. Paul panics and runs off to find his grandmother, taking one of Audra’s guns with him. Audra goes after him, but is distracted when she comes across a mass graveyard, filled with rotting corpses marked with gunshots to the head. Meanwhile, Paul enters his grandmother’s house, horrified to find a message painted on the wall: “LORD HAVE MERCY ON US.” He ventures to the backyard, where he finds his grandmother’s zombified corpse crawling in the grass; everything below the waste has been chewed and rotted away.
Back at the cruiser, Audra considers abandoning Paul here, fearing he may be a liability on her journey. However, going through with it is easier said than done. As she continues weighing her options, Paul returns to the cruiser in tears. Audra reluctantly offers him the chance to travel together to the Haven, a sanctuary in Canada still standing. Paul wipes his face and takes her up on it, climbing into the cruiser’s passenger seat. The two drives off; Audra hopes she made the right choice.
After a few days of traveling, things grow harrowing for Audra and Paul when they run out of food. When Audra blames Paul for this predicament, the two begin arguing. They are then interrupted by the sound of footsteps. An old man armed with a rifle emerges from the woods, sighing deeply with relief upon encountering fellow survivors. He introduces himself as Bill (Jim Beaver) Abernathy, and explains he and his wife have been laying low on their farm since this ordeal began. Bill offers the two to rest at the farm, Paul jumps at the opportunity when Bill reveals they have plenty of food to share. Audra is sceptical but gives in after realizing they are out of options.
Eventually, the three arrive at the farm, where Audra and Paul meet Bill’s wife Cynthia (Rene Russo), who immediately welcomes them with a basket of biscuits. Over the course of the day, the Abernathy couple proudly show off their land to the guests, aside from the barn. When Audra inquires, Bill quickly explains “the animals get spooked easily.”
That evening, while the others eat dinner, Audra sneaks out to the barn and picks the lock. She is puzzled to find no animals inside, only the echoing sounds of groaning. Then, Audra encounters a limbless man lying on the ground, who uses his last ounce of life to warn her: “don’t eat the food.”
Suddenly, Audra hears someone behind her, she barely dodges a gunshot from Bill’s rifle. She retaliates by grabbing a sledgehammer and shattering his kneecaps. Bill, fighting through his agonizing pain, tells Audra this is how the world works now: people must give apart of themselves so that others can survive. Audra grabs his rifle and furiously tells him cannibalism is not the answer. As Bill continues taunting her, he is promptly interrupted by a bullet to the head. After coming to terms with killing a man, and realizing her foolishness in firing a gun, Audra runs off to find Paul.
Upon hearing the gunshot, Cynthia immediately grabs a kitchen knife and stabs Paul through his bandaged hand. Audra storms through the doors, prompting Cynthia to grab Paul and run outside. Cynthia presses her knife to Paul’s neck, warning Audra to surrender. Suddenly, a zombie emerges from the nearby woods and bites into Cynthia’s jugular, giving Paul the opportunity to escape her grasp. Eventually, more zombies appear, quickly swarming Cynthia as she screams in utter horror. Audra and Paul run all the way back to the police cruiser, leaving the Abernathy farm to be overrun. Paul panics upon realizing he has accidentally eaten human flesh. Fortunately, Audra manages to calm him down, and the two survivors drive away into the night.
A man and woman wearing tattered police officer uniforms stumble across the remains of the Abernathy farm. “Lieutenant” Grover (Jeff Kober) and his partner in crime Dana (Rosie Perez) find Bill’s lifeless corpse in the barn. The two examine the scene and decide to track down the “psychopaths” responsible for this bloodbath.
Meanwhile, Audra’s police cruiser can go no further, much to her frustration. She and Paul must continue their journey on foot. Audra determined they are somewhere in Nebraska; they still have a lengthy road ahead of them. Eventually, they decide to spend the night at an abandoned motel. While securing the building, Audra finds a first aid kit, which she uses to properly fix Paul’s hand. When Paul offhandedly asks Audra if she learned first aid from her parents, she dodges the question. Paul wishes his parents gave him more survival skills, admitting he has only gotten by through sheer luck. Audra hesitantly asks Paul how his parents died, only for him dodge the question as well.
Later in the night, Paul awakens from a nightmare, finding Audra unable to sleep as well. Paul asks if she is has bothered by taking a human life. Audra reminds him that Bill had it coming; killing him was necessary for their survival. Paul reluctantly agrees, but wishes it didn’t have to be that way, fearing he doesn’t have the stomach to ever do such a thing. Audra advised him to get over his fear, it could determine his life someday.
The following morning, the two move on. Later that same day, Lieutenant Grover and Dana find Audra’s abandoned police cruiser, determining it has been used recently.
Audra and Paul camp for the night at a deserted highway, with Audra offering to take the first watch shift. While Paul sleeps, Audra finds herself going down memory lane: Houston going up in flames, barely managing to escape herself. She would be dead without the kindness of strangers, and now she must return the favor.
Suddenly, Audra wakes up after dozing off to see a young bearded man, Oscar (Benedict Samuel) pointing a shotgun at her, harshly demanding she “wake up.” A tattooed lady, Ridley (Christian Serratos) grabs Paul, while a shaky man, Julian (Freddie Highmore) ensures there are no zombies in the area. Oscar explains this highway belongs to them, and suspects the two teens are scouts sent from another group. Audra insists they are alone, and beg to be released before the situation can escalate. Oscar snaps at Audra for “talking back” and orders Julian to bring him a rope, but is told it would be wiser to interrogate her instead. Suddenly, Paul manages to grab Ridley’s gun, and Audra urges him to shoot their attackers. However, Paul cannot bring himself to pull the trigger. Oscar tackles him to the ground and repeatedly clubs the side of his head with his shotgun. Audra attempts to intervene, but is knocked out by Ridley.
The bandits return to their base, an old diner, with their newly acquired supplies, and lock their prisoners in the storage room. Oscar firmly believes they should execute Audra and Paul, but Julian insists they must question them, and sways Ridley to his side. They must know exactly what kind of people they are dealing with before making any rash decisions. Eventually, Audra wakes up and finds Paul still alive, curled up in the corner clutching his gravely injured left eye. Paul sobs, profusely apologizing to Audra for hesitating. Audra insists he not worry about that, and begins looking around the room and formulating a plan to help them escape this predicament.
When zombies emerge in the area, Ridley leaves to lure them away, leaving the others to deal with the prisoners. Eventually, Julian goes to the storage unit to check up on them. Once he enters the room, Audra pushes a shelf over, toppling a bucket of nails that pierce into Julian’s face. Oscar is alerted to the scene, engaging in a shootout with Audra while Julian screams in excruciating agony. Eventually, he wanders into the crossfire and is accidentally killed by Oscar’s shotgun. The nearby zombies are attracted by the gunfire, and swarm the diner. Audra manages to shoot Oscar in the leg, effectively incapacitating him as the zombies break inside. Oscar begs to be put out of his misery as the zombies feast on him, giving Audra and Paul the opportunity to escape.
Meanwhile, Ridley is shocked when she spots a helicopter flying in the distance. Eventually, she tries returning to the diner, only to find it overrun. Hours after she grieves her friends and moves on, Lieutenant Grover and Dana discover Julian’s mutilated corpse and the disemboweled Oscar. Lieutenant Grover remarks how they must be tracking down “some real sick bastards.”
Audra and Paul have been wandering the countryside for the past several days, running dangerously low on supplies after their bloody encounter with the highwaymen. Furthermore, Paul’s damaged eye has become infected. Eventually, it becomes clear he needs medical attention beyond Audra’s skill set. When Paul begins slipping in an out of consciousness, Audra finds shelter at an old pharmacy, where she is able to bandage Paul’s eye with the scarce supplies remaining. When Paul insists they rest for a few days, Audra bluntly reveals if they do not reach the Haven soon, he will likely die from his wound. Paul sighs, before asking Audra to move on without him, admitting he has been nothing but a burden since they met. When Audra refuses, Paul bursts into tears and states he does not want her to die because of him like his parents did, confessing the only reason he escapes that airport was because he left his parents to be eaten alive. Paul tells Audra he is simply too scared to make hard choices, and it has already gotten people killed. Audra tells Paul she wouldn’t be alive if she had remained on her own through this ordeal. Before the apocalypse, Audra was a street burglar living in Houston, and never knew her parents or what happened to them. When zombies attacked Houston, but she was able to escape because a police officer gave her a ride. Unfortunately, he was bit in the chaos, and Audra was forced to put him down. Audra believes he would’ve wanted her and Paul to stick together, no matter how hard things get. Eventually, the two fall asleep, only to be abruptly awoken in the morning by the sound of gunshots. Audra peeks out the window to see Lieutenant Grover and Dana armed to the tooth, demanding they immediately surrender.
Audra takes cover and pulls out her gun, warning the two that this will not end well for them if they attack. When Lieutenant Grover demands to know why she murdered the farmer and those highwaymen, Audra assures them she “had her reasons.” Dana realizes they are speaking to a child, and persuades everyone to finally lower their weapons. Lieutenant Grover reveals his knowledge that the two are traveling to the Haven, revealing he and Dana are as well. Audra allows them inside the pharmacy, where they find Paul unconscious again.
Suddenly, they are interrupted by a helicopter landing outside. Soon, men and women dressed in military uniforms emerge, barging into the pharmacy and swarming the survivors. The soldiers explain they have been dispatched from the Haven to search for refugees. Audra, Lieutenant Grover, and Dana are immediately whisked into the helicopter. The soldiers fear Paul is too injured to be saved, but Audra convinces them otherwise. As the helicopter lifts off the ground, Paul momentarily wakes up. Audra assures him everything is going to be alright as the helicopter flies towards the Canadian border; they’re safe now.
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