The Reel Review
A French filmmaker is hired by a new streaming platform to direct a low budget, single-take, live action zombie flick about a film crew caught up in a real zombie attack, in this horror/comedy starring Romain Duris (The Spanish Apartment) and Oscar nominee Bérénice Bejo (The Artist). Final Cut is a remake of the 2017 Japanese film One Cut of the Dead.
The first 30 minutes will have most viewers asking themselves what kind of ridiculously awful movie-within-a-movie they are watching. Stick with it, because the rest of Final Cut illustrates how this zombie flick miraculously comes together despite nearly everything going wrong. It’s a fun, behind the scenes glimpse at all the crazy hijinks of moviemaking – from tempestuous and suddenly sick actors, last minute substitutions, and some pretty heroic, albeit frantic, improvising by everyone.
Final Cut is a love letter to the hard-working film crews – the clashing personalities whose ingenuity and camaraderie can make even a terrible horror film a fun project to undertake. It is a delight for anyone who has ever been involved in a film or stage production. Blood squirting girl for the win!
REEL FACTS
• Coupez! as it is called in French, was originally titled Z (comme Z) until Ukrainian filmmakers pleaded with director Michel Hazanavicius to change the title, because of the Russian Army’s use of the letter “Z” painted on their tanks in their invasion of Ukraine.
• Yoshiko Takehara reprises her role from the 2017 Japanese original as the movie’s producer.
• In a cute case of real life imitating art, the daughter and wife of Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), respectively plays the director’s clever, authenticity-obsessed daughter Romy and martial arts-obsessed wife Nadia in the film.
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