Watch Shaun of the Dead again 20 years later

What would you do in a zombie apocalypse? If you can’t beat them, join them, right? I recently asked myself how I would react in that situation if push came to shove, spurred on by my re-watch of Shaun of the Dead.

“It’s bizarre to see compact brick Nokias instead of smartphones with huge screens”

Lately, I’ve been consuming media from the early 2000s to examine how comedy has changed over time. Shaun of the Dead is a story about friendship, love, and the mundane struggles of everyday life. Shaun, a lovable slacker, is caught in a zombie apocalypse while trying to win back his ex-girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) and reconcile with his estranged stepfather (Bill Nighy). Along with his hapless best friend Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun embarks on a hilariously clumsy journey to save his loved ones and survive the onslaught of the undead. The film was released in 2004, a year after I was born, but is it still relevant two decades later?

Perhaps the strangest thing about watching the film twenty years later is the complete absence of the technology that is so ubiquitous to us today. It’s bizarre to see compact, chunky Nokias instead of smartphones with huge screens. In fact, the film is old enough to seem dated but too young to be considered vintage, which puts it in this strange grey area. There are touches of nostalgia, particularly for those born around 2004, but the world Shaun inhabits is still recognisably ours.

“It was obvious that the authors could not predict the coronavirus”

None of this is limiting or off-putting, however, as the humor and dialogue carry the film so well. Comedy can be a tricky genre and is incredibly susceptible to being “out of its time” if not done perfectly. Comedy runs the risk of not aging well as social conventions about what is funny evolve. Several comedians have complained that “cancel culture” limits their range for jokes. Most recently, American comedian Jerry Seinfeld accused “the far left” of killing the genre after his latest “comedy.” Unfrostedreceived bad reviews. Shaun of the Dead shows that it is possible to find a balance between fun and being largely harmless. It is hard to imagine that other films released at the same time as Very bad, given the many insults used by the main characters, cannot be made today. Shaun of the Deadis still worth watching, as the humor often consists of witty dialogues and physical comedy, such as when Shaun runs headfirst into a fence.

However, I felt a little uneasy during the film’s exposition that introduces the zombie outbreak — likely due to the mild PTSD we’ve suffered during the pandemic. Of course, there’s no way the writers could have predicted the coronavirus. But it felt odd to watch a fictional world go into “lockdown” when we have memories of doing the exact same thing (albeit with fewer zombies). Perhaps it’s too early to enjoy media about medical disasters and epidemics. However, I expect it will be less of a sore spot the further we get from COVID.

Visually, Shaun of the Dead does a great job of capturing both the mundane and the macabre. From the dreary confines of Shaun’s suburban life to chaotic streets overrun by zombies, the cinematography deftly juxtaposes the mundane with the absurd. The special effects are equally impressive, with gruesome zombie makeup and inventive kill sequences that pay homage to classic horror films while giving them a comedic twist.

If you don’t mind a bit of blood and like comedy and horror, I recommend Shaun of the Dead because I have no doubt that it will stand the test of time.