Rest
2012 · 12m · USA
Directed by Cole Schreiber
Genres: drama, fantasy, horror
Tones: contemplative, dark, melancholic
An American WWI soldier resurfaces from his grave ninety years after his death and embarks on a journey across continents to return home, a film that subverts zombie genre conventions by centering the undead figure's pursuit of peace over violence.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Schreiber's strategic misuse of the zombie form — deploying its iconography while refusing its genre logic — is precisely the kind of formal intelligence the vault should document. The Short of the Week review confirms the critical consensus.
WWI soldier rises from his grave and walks home as elegy not horror. James Laxton on cinematography — that's the Moonlight DP — and Keegan Dewitt scoring. The pedigree is real. The conceit could be either Béla Tarr or Cole Schreiber's senior project. The cast and crew suggest the former.
Cole Schreiber repositioning the zombie as a figure of mourning rather than threat — an American WWI soldier walking home ninety years late. James Laxton shooting it, Keegan DeWitt scoring. The genre subversion is earned.
Reviews
Rest remixes the genre so much that if it weren't for the iconic zombie makeup, you might mistake it for an art house film.