Review: Deadsight

Director: Jesse Thomas Cook

Screenplay: Liv Collins and Kevin Revie

Year: 2019

Synopsis: Ben and Mara, a man with visual impairments and a pregnant woman, find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Both have physical limitations that make them vulnerable, but together they try to complement each other and survive the chaos around them.

Can you imagine a blind man and a pregnant woman in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? It would seem like the ideal situation for an exposition scene or one of those ultra-violent ones where the victims have no option of surviving. Well, this is the premise of “Deadsight”, where we see two persons in conditions that limit their physical activity and that puts them in a serious disadvantage in this zombie apocalypse scenario.

In “Deadsight”, an interesting wordplay that makes more sense once you understand the premise of the movie, we see the whole situation from the perspective of the main characters. The first we get to know is Ben, who wakes up in an ambulance handcuffed to a gurney with a blindfold over his eyes. This introduction is reminiscent of “28 Days Later” or the first season of “The Walking Dead”, where the protagonist has no idea about what is going on and we go on discovering what’s happening alongside him.

The blindfold over Ben’s eyes is not a part of a long dead “Bird Box” challenge, but that he is suffering from partial blindness. This allows the viewer to realize what is happening before he does. Shortly, we get to know Mara, who is in an advanced pregnancy stage, which compromises her physical capacity, but she can slightly overcome by her police training. In the case of Mara, the viewer is always kept in tension as her situation forces her to oversee all of the cares a woman in this pregnancy stage should have. Needless to say, the tension build-up is great and keeps the viewer on the edge of its seat. 

The screenplay of Liv Collins (“Creep Nation”), who also interprets Mara, and Kevin Revie is a simple but smart one that pays attention to details. The characters don’t have much dialogues but the few they have are effective and well thought to develop them. This character development takes place more through their actions as we get minimal background information about them, which works great in this movie. From the start, you are a little suspicious about Ben since he was handcuffed to a gurney in an ambulance but as the story develops, you get to like him, as well as Mara. The director Jesse Thomas Cook (“Monster Brawl”) takes the simple but effective story and enhances it with striking cinematography and use of lightning, particularly in the final stretch, some well-placed jump scares and a rhythm that helps to never lose the high tension.

As mentioned, the character development of the protagonist is essential and much of this happens through their actions. In this, the interpretations of Adam Seybold (“Creep Nation”) as Ben and Liv Collins as Mara are greatly important and both do a phenomenal job. Each action and interaction feels genuine and goes accordingly with its character and the personality that is being presented.

Zombie movies have taken over the horror genre and many of them are not good movies but every once in a while, one surfaces that manage to do things right. This is the case of “Deadsight”, one of the few movies from this subgenre that has impressed me recently. The only thing that I can say I did not like about this movie is the skill the protagonists have for dropping perfectly usable weapons to the point of it being a bit frustrating. Besides this, I enjoyed the story, the visuals, and the attention to details. Jump scares are well placed and are part of the story. “Deadsight” manages to be much more than just another zombie movie.