Largely driven by the popularity of The Walking Dead, zombies have become big business. There’s been a strong take on the genre in cinemas as well. Whilst Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead (remake) provided popular crowd-pleasers, there’s also been great original twists such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Warm Bodies and Fido. Nina Forever isn’t a zombie film in the traditional sense, more of a romantic comedy-drama with an undead twist.
Rob (Cian Barry) is struggling to get over the death of his girlfriend, Nina (Fiona O’Shaughnessy), which culminates in him trying to take his own life. Holly (Abigail Hardingham) is a trainee paramedic who has just been dumped for being too ‘vanilla’. The pair both work in a supermarket and Holly is attracted to ‘loner’ Rob. Despite his unease at being with someone else they finally get together. However, just as sparks start to fly, Nina decides to make a surprise appearance.
The Blaine Brothers could have easily mishandled the material but they do a great job of avoiding any suggestion of it becoming hackneyed, schlocky or exploitative. The use of Nina as in analogy for the baggage people bring to a new relationship is very clever. Holly is trying to prove to herself that she has a more adventurous side whilst Rob is trying to get over the death of the love of his life. Nina Forever is better than the sum of its parts and is an ingenious take on the perils and pitfalls of relationships and dealing with grief.
Nina Forever is released on EST tomorrow and on DVD and Blu-ray by Studiocanal on Monday.
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