Greetings, friends! Welcome back to a new installment of #HauntLife, the blog where a slightly tilted haunter gives his take on films, life and everything in between… and occasionally I’ll talk about haunted houses. It’s been a while since I could post. Life has been good, but with good times comes lots and lots of new opportunities and work. Family, work, school and haunting all seem to want 100 percent of my time, but such is the #HauntLife. Recently, I did get a chance to check out a new Netflix offering, so I wanted to share my take on it.

But first, let me say I am glad to be back here writing for ZIMB. Life got in the way of my “fun stuff” for the past few months. My day job got really hectic, thanks to some major changes: Ended up with a ton more work to keep the ship afloat. I have been working on my master’s degree in college and have been prepping for two really hard tests that I have to clear out of the way. Add all that into having a very successful quarter in my side 3D printing business (for those interested), and trying to be dad to the family. You can see the reason for my lack of posts. But things are getting back to good, so I am back, baby, and better than ever… I hope… lol.

It’s rare that Netflix makes a film that is deep and moving. So, when I saw that they had a new Zombie Apocalypse film called Cargo, I was very much pessimistic. What I expected was a JAZ (Just Another Zombie) cash-grab film, but I was actually bored and just needed something mindless to play in the background while I did some work on the computer.

Cargo centers around a family trying to cope during the early stages of the Zombie Apocalypse. Andy (Martin Freeman) and Kay (Susie Porter) use their houseboat to get by, scavenging food and supplies while taking care of their 1-year-old girl, Rosie. During one of their runs, Kay becomes infected with the Zombie plague after being attacked. Frantic to find a doctor or someone to save her, Andy takes his family on-shore, steals a car and races for help.

Unfortunately, they crash the car along the way. When Andy comes to, he finds Kay has turned. After a brief struggle, Andy escapes the car with Rosie, but was bitten in the process. Knowing his time is limited, Andy begins trying to find help to cure himself of the plague.

Along his journey for help, Andy meets an Aboriginal girl named Thoomi, who ran away from her tribe after her father becomes a Zombie. Thoomi helps Andy take care of Rosie on his “death march,” as Andy comes to realize that there is no hope for him. His main focus becomes getting Rosie to safety and that means he must reunite Thoomi with her tribe and hope they will protect and raise Rosie.

I must say, after watching this film, I hugged my little girl a little tighter. As a dad, it hit home pretty hard. Andy knows he is going to die. He knows that unless he can get his daughter to safety, she will die soon and most likely by his own undead hands. His wife has died. And he also has another youngster to take care of that he grows somewhat attached to.

I know if this was me, I would be an emotional wreck. I would think about all the times I had with my wife and how much she means to me. I would think about my little girl and how I won’t be there to watch her grow up, say her first words or anything else. It would be doubly painful to know that if I cannot find her a safe group of people to leave her with, she will die soon and possibly be my first meal as a monster. I would probably just sit in a corner and sob uncontrollably for a while.

By the way, if this movie sounds familiar, then you probably have seen the viral short film that was made back in 2013. The short, available on YouTube, is a condensed version of the Netflix film, which gives more background to it. If you haven’t seen it and don’t have Netflix, I highly encourage you to check it out.

I have to give Netflix’s Cargo a perfect five out of five stars. The story is intense, deep and is designed to pull at the heart strings. It is the perfect combination of drama and horror. I know it is cliche, but if you only have time for one film on Netflix, make sure this is it! You won’t be disappointed.