Really Awful Movies: Ep 349 – Black Summer and Adoration

Back in business! This week, after a bit of a summer hiatus, The Really Awful Movies Podcast is back.

On this episode: Black Summer, a Walking Dead-like US TV series currently streaming on Netflix, and also Adoration, a small, quirky, Belgian-lensed and French language thriller.

Black Summer, filmed in the Calgary, Alberta area, has all the hallmarks of a zombie series: the macho alpha leader, the meek/hesitant sidekick, the concerned mother, the practical nerd, the gutsy do-it-yourself. And of course, the breakdown of social cohesion, not to mention the rampaging undead, make this must-see material if you’re into that kinda thing. There are tonnes of characters, lots of running, hissing zombies, militia men, evildoing civilians, the works.

By stark, stark contrast, Adoration is as small and character-driven as you can get. It’s slow, meandering, and psychologically-driven and muted in parts. A teen helps another escape a remote sanitorium.

The theme for both vehicles: running away from things! I guess there is a connective thread.