In a gated community on an island in Canada, the elite want to be able to golf all-year round despite the snow that dominates their landscape. A biotech company develops a fertilizer that melts the snow and grows grass in its place. The only problem is, once the fertilizer hits the water supply, it turns people into rabid zombies. Teenager André (Iani Bédard) is left to care for his baby sister Annie when his mother is transformed into a zombie and he crosses paths with cranky father Dan (Roy Dupuis), another of the survivors. Together they attempt to find a way to help the uninfected while avoiding becoming infected themselves.
You’d be forgiven at this point for wondering what else there is to say in the zombie sub-genre after it has been rinsed in the wake of the success of ‘The Walking Dead’. Thankfully Julien Knafo proves there is still mileage in zombies yet with his clever combination of comedy, horror and social commentary. I’ve certainly never seen zombies that grow, and eventually turn into, grass before and it’s a quirky idea for sure.
André is your typical teenager, glued to his phone and completely oblivious to what’s going on in the world around him. A scene early on sees him sat idly by as his baby sister almost topples a flat screen TV onto herself. With his nose always in his phone, he’s not the sharpest on the uptake about what’s going on but when his own mother tries to attack him and Annie, he realises that he’s actually in a very serious situation. Dan on the other hand is your typical ‘boomer’, too proud to embrace modern technology and too grumpy to make any friends. The unlikely pair prove to be an entertaining duo and watching them fumble their way through the new world they find themselves in is a lot of fun.
Iani Bédard and Roy Dupuis are simply wonderful together in this film. They are such different characters, and very different kinds of actors, but somehow together they’re magic. Even when the film hits one too many tropes, their performances keep you invested as they bicker, plot and work together to try and save their lives, and those of the other people uninfected. There’s plenty of humour to be found among the darker moments and the actors truly are brilliant.
Knafo finds time for plenty of social commentary along the way. André’s refusal to put his phone down highlights the ignorance that plagues Gen-Z as they make their way through the world without a second thought for much outside of themselves. The zombies turning into grass is symbolic given that we’re in the middle of a very concerning battle against climate change. The golfing elite in this film don’t care about harming the earth as long as they get to play golf, and that kind of thinking is what’s got the world to the place we are right now. You could read the film as Mother Nature fighting back after years of being mistreated by a civilisation that has paid shockingly too little attention to the harm they’re causing.
‘Brain Freeze’ may tread familiar ground a little too often but you can’t help but be won over by its charm. If you don’t find yourself loving André and Dan, you should probably check to see if a) you’re growing grass and b) if you have a heartbeat. ‘Brain Freeze’ does enough to differentiate itself in the sub-genre and that’s no easy achievement. With plenty of smarts, some clever twists and turns, and loveable leads, ‘Brain Freeze’ is an unexpected delight.
Cast: Iani Bédard, Roy Dupuis, Marianne Fortier, Mylène Mackay Director: Julien Knafo Writer: Julien Knafo Certificate: 18 Duration: 91 mins Released by: Blue Finch Films
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