Anna and the Apocalypse: A zombie-Christmas-high school musical can’t be this good

New trailer for Anna and the Apocalypse.

Update: During Fantastic Fest 2017, we saw a movie so good we couldn't wait for others to see it (and simply ran the review). Anna and the Apocalypse is an extremely clever mash-up of several beloved genres that seems too odd on paper to work: zombie movie, Christmas story, and high school musical. Luckily, the film quickly attracted a distributor in early 2018. Now with Anna and the Apocalypse hitting select theaters this weekend and expanding elsewhere on December 7, 2018, we're resurfacing our review. The piece originally ran on October 7, 2017, and it appears unchanged below.
AUSTIN, Texas—Even if it looks straight out of the DCOM (Disney Channel original movie) playbook, do not be fooled by the familiar bubblegum-ness of Anna and the Apocalypse's first 15 minutes.
Yes, likable young people fill in various archetypes, from the artistic outcast to the popular jerk to the nice-guy best friend who'll forever be 'just friends' with our heroine. And yes, Top 40-pop styled musical numbers focus on familiar adolescent themes of defying the expectations of others or how life doesn't follow movie scripts in practice. At one point, a stick-in-the-mud principal devoted to rules and regulations literally proclaims, 'hand sanitizer is your friend; kissing on the mouth is not your friend.'
But if the title itself or its debut at the genre-melting pot that is Fantastic Fest don't give it away, Anna and the Apocalypse has no interest in being the next obsession of the pre-teen in your life. Instead, the film only sets up High School Musical expectations so it can swiftly and cleverly dismantle them throughout the rest of this funny, impressive, and genuinely moving ride.
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