Susan Granger’s review of “Z for Zachariah” (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)
This post-apocalyptic survival tale revolves around the last three people left on Earth, working together to try to restore some semblance of civilization in a remote valley somewhere in Appalachia.
For more than a year, deeply religious Ann Burden (Margot Robbie) has believed that she was the last human on the planet after an unspecified nuclear disaster. In addition to scavenging for supplies in a poisoned ghost town, she plants crops that she can harvest and hunts game, hoping to make it through another brutal winter.
Suddenly, this lonely, yet self-sufficient woman encounters John Loomis (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a research scientist who was wearing a radiation-proof suit when the devastation hit. He’s an atheist but respects Ann’s devotion to the small chapel built by her father, a preacher, where she often plays the organ.
Just as their tentative relationship begins to thrive, along comes charming Caleb (Chris Pine), a former miner who declares he’s also a Christian and immediately becomes John’s skulking rival for sweet-natured Ann’s affection when she invites him to join them, living in the spacious farmhouse.
Inspired by Robert C. O’Brien’s posthumously published 1974 YA novel, it’s a complex relationship drama, adapted by Nissar Modi and directed by Craig Zobel (“Compliance”), sensitively delineating the religious and racial subtext, building to a contrived, yet somewhat ambiguous climax.
Cinematographer Tim Orr takes full advantage of the rugged New Zealand locations, lingering by the lush forests and picturesque, if radioactive waterfall as the Genesis-revisited story unfolds, accompanied by Heather McIntosh’s effective score.
After making such an auspicious impression in “Wolf of Wall Street” and “Focus,” Australian actress Margot Robbie seems remarkably restrained, while Chris Pine’s (“Star Trek”) scheming becomes all too obvious.
Indeed, only British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”) creates an emotionally compelling, three-dimensional character.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Z for Zachariah” is a subtle 7, reveling in its minimalist simplicity.
