Anna and the Apocalypse is the musical zombie slasher we need, just in time for Christmas

If you’ve been waiting for a zombie apocalypse Christmas musical, then Anna and Apocalypse will satisfy your every desire and more.

Meet Anna, a young girl on the brink of adulthood. She’s in her last year at school and has dreams of traveling the world – a dream that may soon become a reality, if only her dad could just chill out about it. Along with her friend John (Malcolm Cumming), classmates Steph (Sarah Swire) and Chris (Christopher Leveaux), Anna (Ella Hunt) feels trapped and desperate to get out of the sleepy fictional town of Little Haven.

Before any of them can realize their full potential, though, an infectious virus spreads around the UK like wildfire, and their lives suddenly go from attempting to survive high school to surviving the impending apocalypse.

All of the group feels as if they have something to prove. John is desperate to get into art school, Steph wants to change the world through her journalism, and Chris needs to discover himself in order to make films that show who he really is. As well as her desire for independence, for Anna, the zombie apocalypse is just another thing on the list (which also includes university and her dad) that is trying to stop her, and she just won’t let that happen. Headstrong and quite frankly fed up with it all, Anna is exactly the kind of hero we need right now.

While the first musical number is initially jarring, Anna and the Apocalypse goes from Grange Hill (a children’s TV show that is a national institution in the UK) to High School Musical in a few seconds. But once the musical notes have washed over you, it’s hard to stop your feet from tapping along. The musical-come-zombie-come-Christmas-film genre shouldn’t work at all, but here it does, and with magical results.

In a surprising twist, the musical element actually helps explore an element of the zombie apocalypse film that is rarely ever given screen time: the overwhelming feelings of sadness and isolation that is inevitable at the end of the world. As characters sing in harmony with each other, they voice their anxieties and worries about the potential end of the world in a way that they cannot do out loud with one another.

Clearly inspired by Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead, director John McPhail and writers Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry take inspiration from everyday heroes Shaun and Ed (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost). Comparisons will come thick and fast. Instead of getting to the Winchester, the kids are trying to get to the school, and there’s a scene in Anna that clearly pays homage to Shaun going about his day, blissfully ignorant of the zombie carnage around him. Though the stories are similar, as is the dark humor, Anna gets to some emotional places that Shaun of the Dead doesn’t touch. Of course, there’s also far more singing.

Anna also offers up scenarios that feel very realistic: the #EvacSelfie for one, and the school bullies going six for six on an opportunity to beat up some unassuming zombies (“when it comes to fighting zombies, I’m top of the class”). It may be a film about the supernatural, but it offers representations that feel hilariously close to home and are impossible not to get on board with. Anna also introduces the idea of zombie shag, marry, kill, which should be definitely instigated in every single apocalypse scenario ever.

The dark antagonist — as it should be in every high school movie — is headteacher Savage. A cruel dictator, he is at first a budget-driven, fun-sucking jobsworth; it turns out Savage is not just a bad teacher, he passionately hates the children he has sworn to educate. His solo “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now” is a real highlight, and Paul Kaye playing it utterly straight-faced is a disturbing delight.

While it may deal mostly with blood, gore and zombie guts, Anna definitely falls into the category of a Christmas film. Complete with candy cane weapons, town Christmas trees on fire and the local school Christmas talent show, Christmas is almost a metaphor for normality — the humdrum everyday life that has now been turned upside down. The juxtaposition of decorations, snow and the promise of presents stands in stark contrast to the grim reality that Anna and her friends now face. Save humanity; save Little Haven; save Christmas.

With stellar performances from industry newcomers, a brilliant soundtrack and even a fight scene set in a bowling alley, Anna and the Apocalypse will be your next favorite zombie/Christmas/musical epic.