'Cargo' Review

Netflix is having a huge impact on the cinematic landscape. The appeal of having a movie streamed straight to the comfort of your own home in undeniable. Unfortunately, as of the late the quality of the Netflix originals hasn't been that high. Bright, Mute and The Cloverfield Paradox were all pretty underwhelming. Thankfully, Cargo is a step in the right direction, as it's a really great movie.

After becoming infected in the aftermath of virulent pandemic and being given only 48 hours left to live, Andy (Martin Freeman) must struggle across the Australian Outback to try and find a new home for his baby daughter.

Considering this is the directorial debut of both Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, the themes and tropes of this movie are handled in really mature and assured ways. It is, technically, a zombie movie which is usually enough to make me groan. To me, zombies have always been an unsparing and boring movie villain, that have already been done to death. Yet this film, rather similarly to A Quiet Place, puts the monsters on the back-burner to let the audience's main focus be the family tragedy at the heart of the story. The zombies are very apparent as a side effect of the disease in this world, but their presence never detracts from character driven story, which makes the narrative all the more compelling.

In fact, there are a few noticeable similarities to A Quiet Place (which is a big compliment considering how much I loved that movie), from an ex member of The Office in the lead role to the creative methods of staying quiet to avoid detection from the creatures. Speaking of the lead, Martin Freeman is really great here. The whole film is centred around some complex human character arcs and Freeman's desperation to protect his daughter at all costs is the crowning jewel. There are strong performances throughout in fact, with special mention going to Simone Landers as Thoomi. The insight into the lives of aboriginal Australians living in the Outback is one of the film's most intriguing elements and she is a big part of that. She also spends much of her screen time going to toe to toe with Freeman, which she handles very well.

Overall, I really enjoyed Cargo. The restraint shown by the creators to hold back on jumps scares and the overcrowding of zombies leaves the story plenty of room to breathe. It's a gripping family drama with some very touching moments and a terrific central performance from Martin Freeman.

4/5 Stars


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