This review of Overlord is part of our Halloween series of horror movie reviews.
This review contains minor spoilers…
Overlord – the alternate history World War II action horror from director Julius Avery and writer Billy Ray – is great fun. That might sound a bit odd considering it is set on the eve of D-Day and features horrific Nazi experiments. But despite its grim sequence of events (including the poignant and traumatic deaths of comrades and innocents), there is no escaping that Overlord is, at its core, about superhuman zombies. And an overarching sense of silliness goes hand-in-hand with this sort thing.
Jovan Adepo plays Private Edward Boyce, the film’s protagonist. Boyce is a rookie paratrooper and part of a squad tasked with destroying a Nazi radio tower to support soldiers on the ground. On their approach to the mission, the squad’s plane is shot down. The ensuing aerial combat and pandemonium is captured in savage detail as soldiers are torn to pieces by bullets and explosions. The fear inside this metal tube in the sky is palpable, and it reminded me of the sheer dread present in the opening moments of Saving Private Ryan.
Supported by excellent sound design, use of colour and special effects, this initial blast of plane action is exhilarating and perhaps even more terrifying than the zombie thrills that come later. Obviously, that’s because things like this actually happened in WWII and the thought of ordinary young men being sent to their death is profoundly disturbing. As the situation deteriorates, Boyce and his fellow squad mates are tossed from the burning plane by Sergeant Rensin (Bokeem Woodbine).
Boyce soon regroups with survivors of the impromptu drop, and a brutal yet somewhat typical war story plays out as the soldiers attempt to complete their mission. Along the way, they meet Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier) and her younger brother Paul (Gianny Taufer) – French civilians who live in the Nazi-occupied village where the radio tower is located on top of a fortified church. They assist the men in evading the Nazis – led by Captain Wafner (Pilou Asbæk) – who rule over the village with the proverbial iron fist and have been callously murdering people at will. Mysterious goings-on soon become apparent as Boyce and co learn of disappearances and dead bodies being taken into the church en masse.
This leads to the squad discovering the existence of a secret Nazi laboratory beneath the church which is being used to perform grim experiments on the villagers. Given the Nazi’s really did carry out horrible wartime experiments on innocent people during the Holocaust, some might consider this tasteless. But it’s all so surreal and sci-fi-esque that such viewpoints are unreasonably sensitive. Once the zombie madness kicks off, the film becomes 28 Days Later-meets-comic book supervillains and its nigh-on impossible to equate it to any sort of reality. The final showdown between our heroes and the sinister Wafner is awesome and impactful but testament to this.
Overlord is undoubtedly gruesome and there are some mild scares to be found, but I would have appreciated more. It’s unlikely to leave you quaking in your chair or wide awake late at night, and its narrative is uncomplicated and lacks nuance – but that’s OK. Character motivations are clear and make sense, as do the film’s plot revelations.
Most importantly, anyone who loves zombie-slaying chaos and watching Nazis get what’s coming to them will walk away satisfied. You will be hard pushed to find a recent horror film available on streaming services that’s as straightforward and easy to watch as this. Its ending is uncontroversial and wraps things up neatly, but a movie like this doesn’t need to be groundbreaking. I’m confident you will remember Overlord’s 110 minutes as time well spent – even if you aren’t blown away by its often predictable but mostly satisfying narrative beats.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
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Featured Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
