User reviews

For starters, the zombies are totally, utterly mute. Believe or not, it's quite scary! In the real world, a simple cough would get anybody killed in an instant... More generally, one of the most powerful features of this movie is the strength of the overwhelming silence: in the streets, buildings, cars, rooms, hallways... Gone is the human agitation we have grown so used to!

Then, the setting in beautiful Paris, downtown-style. Lots of nice Haustmanian buildings. This comes in sharp contrast to the horror that awaits our character at virtually every corner.

The story fits on a simple sheet of paper, but the interest of this movie lies elsewhere. As some reviewers have described it before, it's about survival of the worst kind. I found myself planning what actions the "hero" should be taking to survive, ahead of him and, ticked, he went through each of them! In this regard, it is a pretty consistent movie which feels quite real.

My biggest complain is about the ending, something that a lot of French movies typically fail to do properly (just like the Americans and Asians, but for some other reasons): there is absolutely no closure to the storyline, far from it. I won't get into the details here, but please be warned that you will be left with a virtually limitless number of possible endings for this movie, way too many in my opinion to feel comfortable with it.

The poster and description don't really sell this movie correctly. They sort of hint at this bloodbath zombie world. And while there are hints of that, it is much more of a slice of life drama and psychological study if anything.

There are obviously zombies but not they are not the main focus. There are hints of The Omega Man in here but I think it's much more thoughtful, it tries to look at what life would actually be like.

The film is slow and there are like 40 lines of dialogue in the whole movie, it might even be less. This doesn't make it bad or anything but it does make some parts drag ever so slightly.

I just finished this. I very much enjoyed it. The undead in this are some of the creepiest in the genre because of their utter silence. The character of Sam really drew me in. You feel very much for him and he manages to portray just about every human emotion there is extremely well while finding ways to survive alone in the desert of death, horror and loss around him. This survival is not just about food and ravenous flesh-eating zombies. There are some small and brilliant experimental music scenes created when Sam finds ingenious ways to relieve his boredom and loneliness. He's obviously a musician . He plays drums amazingly too. There is a twist in there too. I don't want to give anything away except to say I didn't see it coming at all. There were many sad scenes. Some achingly sad. And a few humorous ones. Overall, this is an unexpected gem. Kudos!

Is it better to be alive and alone in a zombie apocalypse or dead and or a zombie? This one does a thorough and solid job of answering all those questions. Zombies and effects are done well but there are long stretches of being stuck with the main character which adds to the sense of claustrophobia. A dilemma worth watching.

The was a pretty good movie right up to the end. To me, a bad ending ruins a movie. That is what happened here.

A dope movie about a guy who goes to a party to pick up stuff he left with his ex-girlfriend and while waiting for her he falls asleep and wakes up in a Zombie Apocalypse.

One of the best Zombie movies ever seen (and that's saying a lot cause Zombie movies are the best!), it's a quiet tone as this dude goes through an I am Legend type situation thinking he's the last man on the planet (or at least in Paris)

The dude who they got playing the last man on Earth is a pretty good actor cause he had to be interesting for 90 minutes and he pulls it off, making us laugh, making us sad, and making us believe he lost his mind from loneliness. It's a stellar performance.

I recommend.

The curiously titled The Night Eats the World is a french zombie movie, though to appeal to the masses was filmed in English.

It tells the story of a man who falls asleep at a party only to wake up to a zombie apocalypse. If you're expecting an action packed bloody zombie movie, this simply isn't for you.

The movie takes a simple and rather realistic approach, namely one man alone and what he does to pass the time while the world around him turns to chaos.

Early on I was impressed, it was looking like this might be a likeable zombie affair but sadly the quality dips and it falls into the grindy repetitive and excessively depressing category.

The film has its moments but when the credits roll you'll likely be very aware that this movie will be gone from your memory within a week. It's all just so very underwhelming and ultimately goes nowhere.

I'd say nice try, but I'd be lying.

The Good:

Has its moments

Original take on a waning sub-genre

The Bad:

Rather dull

Goes out with a fizzle not a bang

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Lonliness causes insanity? Guess I'm a lunatic

Everyone needs a zombie friend.

Its well acted but when the only survivor of a zombie apocalypse is a self-absorbed, unlikable upper middle class French muso (who makes mindnumbingly stupid survival decisions) then the film looses credibility.

Its also useful that French zombies have short attention spans when we get into the avaunt garde music.

So I watched more than 50 zombie movies for my studies, and this one is one of the most originals I seen.

I like the pragmatism of the main character, who welcomes the new life of survival with a certain calm and meticulous mind. This movie felt quite satisfying and relaxing, like OCD-based, because of the precise character.

I can relate to Sam annoyed by the crowd of the party and then being almost relieved in this zombie apocalypse. But he starts to feel lonely though, and the character progression is really interesting.

Also, zombies make no sound. Huge difference from the main line in zombie tropes. Much scarier. I definitely recommend.

The whole thing starts off with lots of people, but you can feel the loneliness of the main character. So the tone is set from the get go, even with all the stuff happening around us. After the initial start and night though, there is a lot of small and silent steps the movie takes. For some this may feel like the movie drags out.

It's just the pace of the movie of course. So while you are not "wrong" for feeling one way or the other, the movie stays true to itself. It's how you like that genre and the way the movie handles itself. If you stay with it, I guess you can say you get rewarded. Not in a big flashy way, but you knew that already ... violence is key, though the drama part of the movie is way bigger. Creepy, silent horror sneaking up on you ...

If you like zombie movies then this is worth watching. The end came a little too abruptly (which is why I gave it a 7 instead of an 8 or 9), but this was an interesting take on the genre. Well done by the main actor, the screen writer and the director.

Some will love it, some will hate it. For most, this film will not be well understood, nor appreciated. But there's something there, deep below the surface.

It's an experience, that's for sure. I think I'd have to go back and watch it again in order to even begin to grasp it. And sure it's flawed, both in its inaccessibility and in other ways. I feel the filmmakers didn't quite pull it off as they'd intended, but it can still be powerful to those who let it. Recommend for those wanting something a little bit deeper.

A man gets caught in an apartment as the zombie apocalypse kicks off. He is safe, but alone.

Now I would start of by saying this is very well made. The production, camera work and acting is all great. I quite like it when films shrink down the scope to a few rooms. I like everything about this film, except having to sit through it.

The underlying themes of this film is companionship and boredom. The film demonstrates this very well. But in doing so makes for a very lonely, boring film.

Watching a man slowly lose his mind from loneliness is not particularity engaging.

There is no survival aspect, no action.

This is a very quiet, considered, hipster film. There is nothing wrong with that and I am glad the people who enjoyed it, enjoyed it. I can see why they did, but this is not the experience I want when I put a zombie movie on.

The Night Eats the World: We've all been there, you go to your ex-GF's apartment to collect some stuff, there's a wild party in progress. You don't get on with her pesent BF, you bump into someone, you end up passing out and between booze and tiredness you really could sleep through a Zombie Apocalypse. Well, that's exactly what happens to Sam. He wakes to find the apartment wrecked, the walls smeared with blood. He is attacked by his now Zombie Ex but escapes.

The streets of Paris are strewn with wrecked cars and bodies, just like the aftermath of a yellow-vests riot. Wait! Are those yellow-vests shambling about and biting the few survivors? No, it's the Zombies. Sam makes an apartment habitable and settles in for a long lonely wait. At least he doesn't have to worry about annoying people with drum paying but it does attract Zombies. Sam seems to be the last person left alive in Paris.

Nothing much new in this film and all of the action takes place in one apartment building, it's roof and the nearby streets. But Director Dominique Rocher has delivered a good horror film with convincing Zombies and an interesting reflection on the reality of life alone in the aftermath of an Apocalypse. 7/10. On Netflix.

I love a good, deep movie filled with symbolism and thought provoking scenes. But when it comes to horror flicks, I want to leave my intellect behind and just simply get creeped out. This is an unusual zombie movie. It is not scary, or even creepy. This movie is more about survival and loneliness than battling the undead.

Enter Sam. He goes to his former girlfriend's apartment to pick up his things. After some awkward conversation amidst some overly loud music and a crowd of party guests, his former girlfriend sends him down the hall to the office for his things. You can feel Sam's uneasiness with the people and the noise. Avoiding the loud crowd, he sits in the office and finally falls asleep. When he wakes up, the world, as he knows it is gone, replaced by flesh-eating zombies. We never know how or why.

This is the story of his survival, alone, isolated and trapped, in an apartment building in Paris. The first part of the movie was interesting as he searches the building, marking off apartments that harbor undead residents. Going into the various apartments, he begins gathering food in tote bags like a doomsday shopping trip.

What's missing here? A couple of things. We don't know Sam, and very little happens in the movie to really clue us in as to who he is, and what makes him tick. We get glimpses but nothing concrete to make us care about him and hope for his survival.

The second thing missing is zombie interaction. This is less of a horror movie and more of a psychological study on being isolated and alone, and the effect it has on one's mind. If you're looking for a movie that makes you think, with a side of zombies, this might do the trick. There is definitely a lot to think about here.

Just when you think the zombie genre has chewed it can and exhausted all known narrative possibilities, along comes a film like low-budget offering The Night Eats the World.

This French horror/thriller directed by debut feature filmmaker Dominique Rocher sees 22 July actor Anders Danielsen Lie's Sam trapped in a French apartment complex after a night of partying, with nothing more than some bloodthirsty zombies as company, thus setting forth a plot line of survival and battle of the wills as Sam must learn to live within his new confines.

Those seeking a 28 Days Later/Dawn of the Dead like zombie rush should certainly look elsewhere (even if there is a nice throwback here to Dawn in a paintball scene) as Rocher's film is the very definition of a slow burn, focusing more on Sam's quest to stay alive and sane instead of on zombie carnage, with the zombies here also eerily silent compared to their many counterparts.

It's a nice ploy by Rocher and one that works well for World early on as we get caught up in this confusing new space but as the run-time wears on, the early novelty and success of the film begins to wear thin as Sam remains someone we can root for without ever fully committing to with such basic character depth, while Rocher struggles to maintain the beginning tension over 90 plus minutes as the mundanity of Sam's daily existence locked in an apartment takes full effect.

You keep waiting for a big moment to arise, a genuine surprise or game changer to take the film by the scruff of the neck but it sadly never comes, leaving far too much for Danielsen Lie to do as the sole presence through the majority of the film.

The Norwegian actor gives it his all here, emotionally and physically, transforming into the mind, body and spirit of a desperate man surviving in an even more desperate situation but despite his good efforts, our time with Sam does begin to grow tiresome as he day consists of collecting water, playing music and trying to usher in stray cats to his apartment, it's not the ideal material for cinematic goodness and a weight on the film that starts out so promising with its expertly designed mood and atmosphere at first instantly gripping.

Final Say -

A different take on the zombie apocalypse, filled with initial promise but increasingly dwindling returns as the run-time wears on, The Night Eats the World is a solid independent offering but one that feels like it could've been more memorable had it developed a more sound narrative hook and more well-rounded main character.

3 paintball guns out of 5