The strength of this French language zombie film is that is relies on tension rather than action to produce thrills. Set on the Canadian countryside, a group of survivors are hunted by hungry zombies, creatures whose behavior at times eerily echoes of their previous consciousness. The story's rather small scale, the lack of a universal scope to this zombie apocalypse, gives it an intimate feel. And the silence of the rural setting, occasionally broken by zombies screaming, is as haunting as it is strangely moving.
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oscarvonseth17 November 2017
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thekarmicnomad12 March 2018The infected are confused and hostile they roam the land looking for healthy people to bite - this time with a French twist.
It is nice to have a change from the glut of U.S and U.K offerings; despite the obvious similarities in setup the style is definitely different.
Two groups of survivors do their thing: running, fighting, crying, dying. There are elements of dark humour and a few surreal moments that were welcomingly unexpected.
The film does become a bit stereotypical French artsy. Some of the shots of scenery are a bit long and strange - almost as if the director really wanted to do something more high-brow than a zombie movie.
This is fairly straight forward. Details of some of the zombie-law are left to the viewers discretion. The ending was too artsy and open for me.
If you have a lot of zombie films under your belt then sure give this a go. If you are fairly new to the genre then this may feel like a waste of your time and I would direct you towards the likes of "REC", "Carriers", "28 Days Later" or "Day of the Dead" -
gianmarcoronconi20 July 2021This film manages well to give anxiety to the viewer even if it is very slow and without much sense accomplished to exist. The majority of the film is carried on thanks to the stupid choices of the protagonist that generate a terrible cascade effect.
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megamelfina-995-94767511 March 2018I really wanted to like this. I was highly anticipating it, and it looked absolutely awesome. Unfortunately, while the score is very appropriate and the cinematography is beautiful, there's no other reason to watch this. There's no plot. No character development. There no reasoning for anything they do or for what happens. There is a lot of silence, standing around, and making bad choices, though.
Honestly, a huge disappointment for me. -
GrowMagicBeans27 May 2020I feel this movie could fade away into the myriad of zombie images if I were not to write a passage down about it. It plays out something like an episode of The Walking Dead season IV where they're on the road again. It's altogether quite serious, and yet it has some slapstick dark comedy thrown in at unexpected moments. In its quiet, subtle way, it leaves some of the most haunting, ghostly imagery imprinted on the mind, something like of a recurring dream. As in The Cured (2017), it hints at maybe a sort of pack mentality or unconscious motive shared by the zombie horde. Is there a celestial theme also suggested by the strange furniture shrines erected? Maybe the best aspect of this movie are the unanswered questions, allowing us to vicariously live the anxiety of the protagonists.
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claudio_carvalho9 March 2018After an apocalypse where most of the population in a small location in the woods has turned into ravenous zombies, survivors join forces expecting to go to the protection of the big city. However their journey becomes hopeless when they learn what happened in other locations.
"Les affamés", a.k.a. "Ravenous", is a dismal and hopeless story of a sort of zombie apocalypse. The screenplay keeps the mystery and tension in the beginning with the lack of explanation to what is happening (and has happened). The lack of explanation why the ravenous creatures stack chairs and other objects and then stop to stare is another flaw in the story. The fool character has the intention to break the tension but is annoying indeed. In the end, "Les affamés" has a promising storyline that should (and could) have been better and better. My vote is six.
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boydapeters15 March 2018Clearly a newcomer to the genre who sacrificed realism for their message, of which I don't think they knew what it was. Come on, give us a degree of suspense. Make the protagonists situationally aware so we don't just think they are idiots who would have never made it 5 minutes if such an event really did occur. Did this one rip off "The Cell" with the scream, zombies standing still, the pointless pile of chairs? All of which served no point to the film. Note to writer(s)- don't send your person into unrealistic situations, don't split them up, don't waste their bullets, don't constantly have them making stupid decisions and do respect that as survivors they would have exit plans and not expose themselves to death so easily. And don't give us the close up so you can reveal the teleporting zombie that magically appears next to them ready to snarl at them and bite. Its tired, its cliche, its pointless, and it makes us hate your 1-dimensional writing and plot devices. So much potential, so little talent where it mattered
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petra_ste22 May 2018A watchable but unexceptional horror movie, Les Affamés follows a group of characters striving to survive a zombie epidemic in a Canadian rural community.
The film features some effective scenes and visuals, like a creepy moment in a forest at the beginning or the climax with a character hiding in a tunnel. There is also the suggestion that the creatures retain some intelligence. For example, we see them gather piles of objects forming strange totems for unspecified reasons (possibly a religious instinct), but little is done with this intriguing premise.
Unfortunately, while the film is competently crafted, the script is somewhat lackluster... as is often the case when director and writer are the same person. My theory is that many young directors tend to underrate the importance of a good screenplay, believing visuals and atmosphere can fix everything.
This feels like a series of vignettes strung together with little cohesion or narrative progression, featuring barely developed protagonists. The result looks like one of those Walking Dead episodes with a heavy death toll but light on character development.
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As a massive zombie & horror movie lover i was super excited about the awesome reviews for this movie but during the whole film all i could do was ask WHY?WHY are you just standing there,WHY are all your windows open,WHY are you going off by yourself, WHY are you walking TOWARDS the danger and WHY are the zombies stacking furniture(huh?) etc.etc.etc.Not to mention the WHY of the ENTIRE movie.No explanations to ANYTHING!This movie was an accumulation of people staring,people walking and hearing zombies scream like a cat having it's tail pulled!You never get to know the character's backstorys and there's no reason of how they got to be where they were.Again i emphasize i LOVE zombie movies,i guess if i hadn't gotten so excited over the reviews,maybe i wouldn't have felt so ripped off.
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lauracolten17 February 2021**Confusing spoilers**
I had fun watching this film - it will definitely keep you asking, "why are the zombies doing that?" and "why are these people so dumb?" Don't take it too seriously though because your questions will not be answered. I did make some spoiler-filled observations that I'll share.
First, some of the zombies smiled and hung out with other zombies they seemed to have known in life. They randomly roared. They also stood around in larger groups, but perked up when they saw humans. But they mostly stood around, looking super creepy.
Second, there was a collective art project happening in a field - a huge tower made mostly of furniture. It was kind of impressive because, even though it was zombie-made, it was really tall and didn't fall over. Seriously. It was a 20-foot tower. How did they get furniture up to the very top with no ladders? It was a slow-moving project as the zombies spent most of the time standing and staring at the tower, while holding pieces of furniture that they planned to add. So many chairs. Later in the film, you'll see other towers. Do not expect answers.
Some of my questions included: -Are all zombies creative? -Are they all team players? -What's the point of the mouse traps? -Why aren't animals on the menu?
Then there was "Dog Bite" Lady - the question with her was "Is she or isn't she?" You would think that the dog bite excuse would be way overused in a zombie apocalypse. This woman annoyed me. She didn't carry anything useful like a gun or an axe - she had an accordion. While there was no scene of her playing the accordion, it was used to lure zombies away from the kid, so it wasn't completely useless.
There was also a great Shaun of the Dead sort of moment where the survivors stood still, pretending to be part of the group, fooling a skeptical zombie. Clever humans!
In the end, the girl and the accordion survived, so I'm giving it a 6 for creativity and also because it didn't completely suck. -
Platypuschow22 March 2018This one went straight under my radar and I simply hadn't heard of it, had it not been for a recommendation I may not have come across it at all.
A multi award winning French Canadian effort this could be compared to the 28 Days Later (2002) franchise. In that our antagonists are not zombies but arguably just feral people.
I was struck by the creators choice to have the movie filmed in French. Canadian movies rarely are and it seems like a baffling choice, surely they know that English would have made it more accesible and how many people do not like subtitles.
Thankfully I'm not one of them so despite this weird choice I gave it a go and was left rather undecided.
Without a doubt The Ravenous is a pretty film, the cinematography is fantastic as is the score that goes with it. It tells your usual story of a group of survivors doing everything they can to stay alive during this outbreak and the characters are interesting enough.
Sadly it comes across really rather dull. I didn't expect nor want wall to wall action, that's not the issue. The issue is it just comes across quite lifeless, almost like creators knew how to make a visually impressive film but didn't know how to tell a story.
The Ravenous isn't bad, it's just underwhelming and despite it's multiple award wins I think it's still a title that will only appeal to a certain type of moviegoer.
With its junior Walter White lead and unexplained confusing plot points this failed to impress.
The Good:
Beautifully shot
Well scored
The Bad:
Frustratingly dark in places
Leaves a tad too much to the imagination
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Musical instruments should be a no.1 priority during the apocalypse -
nickboldrini9 March 2018I really liked this film. Its a very different take on the genre, with the emphasis on the need to be quiet to avoid attracting the zombies. Its a slow burn, but I think that helps build the tension, and it relies more on that than shock scares. The gore is minimal, but effective when used. It suggests there is more to the Zombies than just mindless eaters, but it doesn't really answer what. So it has a bit more brains in it (pun intended...) but is a good addition to the genre. Unlike many of the other Zombie films I've seen, most of which are over padded shorts.
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grayogall9 December 2020....you killed the young boy! I thought it was an unnecessary shock tactic for what I found to be a really subtly good zombie-esque movie. The heart strings were tugged already within seconds/minutes of that dual attack. Did you really need to wipe out them both? Not the kid! Won't somebody think of the children?? 😂 Seriously though, that kinda turned me off the rest of the film....there are lines you shouldn't /didn't need to cross - but you did. Overall though, a good movie.
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Concept of zombie movies is simple. Load up on food, weapon and resources. I just don't know what the heck people in the movie were doing. They are safe in their home and then they decided to go out and zombies start chasing them. They reach the shelter and then they decided to go out and get killed. No one is questioning anything. No one is scared, or excited. They all are just bored. 1-dimensional characters.
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No explanation to what had happened to the world, no background explanation to any character. Meanwhile zombies start stacking up chairs and then proceed to stare at the pile like it is a Christmas tree (no, there's no explanation to why this is happening).
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gizmomogwai28 February 2018Zombies are way overrated, and I don't get the cultural obsession with them over the last 10 years , pushing aside the classic ghosts and vampires. So when a Canadian zombie movie went to TIFF, start salivating! The Toronto festival awarded it Best Canadian Film seemingly just for showing up. Billed as a fresh reinvention of the zombie genre with loads of political allegory, Ravenous gives us zombies who can run rather than slowly saunter, but really nothing else original.
The cheapness of the production shows through over and over again. Anyone can shoot people walking through a grass field on a shoestring budget, with zombies who are just people wearing the most minimal makeup. The odd gory special effect doesn't add much to the impression the film makes as a technical achievement. At best, some sequences are entertaining in their action. As an allegory, though, there's nothing here, and no message. Like the genre itself, Ravenous ends up overrated. -
ivko6 February 2019The director of this French-Canadian zombie apocalypse film (in French, so subtitles for us English-only types) has said in interviews that he wasn't looking to redefine the genre or anything like that. This may be true, but he has still made some creative choices that set it apart. Not all of them work exactly, but I think he deserves credit for trying. At this point there have got to be hundreds of zombie films and dozens of games as well, so the field's crowded enough that a little experimentation is generally a good thing.
So first, what works. The Zeds here generally look like people, with maybe a blood stain on their clothes or some similarly subtle indicator of a past violent encounter, as opposed to glowing eyes and blackened skin. It's an effective choice because it isn't always obvious just exactly who is and who isn't a zombie. Adding to that confusion, zombie behavior is also more low-key. When they are in full agro mode they scream a mostly human scream and charge at full sprint, but a great deal of the time their behavior is more complex.
Just seeing an uninfected human doesn't necessarily set them off; often they simply stare with a kind of blank, almost thoughtful look. And if a human is in a position of relative safety, like inside a closed vehicle, they might just quietly move up to the window and stare as if patiently waiting for the situation to change. It's intensely creepy because it suggests a kind of rudimentary strategy to their behavior rather than simple mindless aggression. In more than one scene they actually do use this false calm as an actual strategy, hiding their numbers and using a few quiet zeds as a lure for the unwary.
But the zombie intellect is also, to me, a double-edged sword. Part of what makes zombies zombies is that they become a mindless shell of their former selves. They look like us, but aren't us. Make them too intelligent and it kind of seizes to be a zombie, in my opinion. Instead it becomes more like the virus just switched their loyalties. "Yesterday, Bob was wearing a MAGA hat and talking about border security. Then he got bit and now he's talking about safe spaces and income redistribution. Get the gun, he's infected!" (J/k and FYI I literally flipped a coin to decide whether I would joke about switching from conservative to liberal or vice versa, so please don't read into that!).
Also, the rules for the zombie intellect are never very well established; sometimes they just hang out in traditional herds and look for victims, other times they are shown holding hands, hiding in trees to spy on people or collaborating to build...something, in a field. Not only do they seem to have some hidden purpose motivating them, but occasionally after raising the alarm they pause to watch the humans flee, as if they were mostly just concerned with keeping people out of their business. These ideas are introduced but never explored, which raises the question: why bring them up at all?
Another trick the movie used that I think is kind of overdone and/or unrealistic is the claustrophobic camera trick. This is where the camera focuses on a character and everything seems fine until...bang! An attacker swoops in from out of frame to destroy them. It's good for a jump scare, but come on. What, they have zero peripheral vision? That trick is liberally used along with the related 'camera pans over some danger, then away, then back, and so on a couple of times, but the last time suddenly the danger isn't where it was before'. What happened to the danger? Oh, it's right on top of you. It's scary, but again, the zombie made zero noise while running flat out 100 feet through the forest? Do all zombies get stealth training?
In the end I think the movie works more than it doesn't. There's a nice level of persistent tension that keeps you on edge most of the movie to offset the lower-key nature of the action, and the cinematography is moody and beautiful. There's also some real cleverness I haven't seen before, like using an infected but as-yet still human survivor as camouflage of sorts for others, since the zeds don't see them as entirely human anymore. It's doubly interesting because it adds this tension dynamic between that person's usefulness to the group and their potential as a threat. There's also some nice comedic moments, not all of which entirely land (I'm looking at you, clueless soldier survivor) but still, it cuts up the tension a bit.
The zombie craze seems like it's fading these days; probably we're seeing the last of these for a few decades until it gets "rediscovered", but I think we've built up a nice stockpile to tide us over. In the end I don't think this will go down as a classic, but it's a decent watch if you have Netflix and I'd recommend it on that basis. -
"Ravenous" (2017) is a slow, morose movie about a group of incredibly stupid, French people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse.
The movie is set in rural, northern Quebec a couple of weeks after a 'Rage' virus-type plague has decimated the population and destroyed organized society. There is no mention of any help coming from anywhere else so presumably the virus has caused a worldwide collapse. As in "28 Days Later", the archetypal film of the FZ (Fast Zombie) sub-genre, the zombies are not dead per se, they are living humans infected with a virus that wipes out their intelligence while radically amping up their aggression. The 'Infected' of "Ravenous" are a bit smarter than their counterparts in other movies, being capable of exercising stealth and simple ambush tactics while also preserving some kind of symbolic awareness.
The cinematography in the film is often beautiful and the characterization is pretty good. I know a lot of the other reviewers here didn't think there was much characterization but on that point, I have to disagree. I suspect the problem is they just didn't like the characters which is understandable since, with the possible exception of the little girl, they're all as dumb as rocks. However the fact is the movie is a pretty good character study IF you can get past their lack of tactical intelligence.
The great weakness of the movie is it's lack of respect for the genre. Writer-director, Robin Aubert, seems to have never thought about any of the practical issues that would arise in an apocalyptic, SHTF (S*** Hits The Fan) scenario. I wouldn't hold the idiocy of his characters against his movie if there was any sign that their stupidity was deliberate (ie a conscious artistic choice) but there isn't. They're dumb because he is... at least as far as survival issues anyway.
Summing up, the ultimate joke in all this is that the Infected in this flick are smarter than the characters are. I rate "Ravenous" as a '3' because in IMDb's weird rating system '1' equals zero and (as previously stated) there are only two good things about this movie, thus making it a three. -
becbecface26 July 2019The cinematography in this is actually really lovely. It's a well shot movie and the way it's done would usually be something I really like. But it was a bit of a flop everywhere else. I was a little invested in some characters, but the plot was non existent. The lore seemed like it could be cool but it was never explained. It just felt like it didn't really achieve what it was going for which is a shame. A bit of a boring watch, but I wouldn't say I completely wasted my time at least...
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maximumcool6 March 2018I can only assume that the writer or director had some idea for some scenes and said "Let's make a movie out of these scenes and find some reason to create that scene." "Should we bother with a plot or character development?" "Nope. I want a scene where a lady is in a field and is hiding in the plants from a zombie." "Why would someone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse be out there without a weapon?" "I don't know and don't care. Then I want a scene where a lady drives into a town and turns on her car radio to attract zombies, she kills one, and then drives off." "Why?" "I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T CARE!"
This is one of those movies where it's impossible to imagine these characters surviving for five minutes. They constantly make stupid decisions for no reason at all. And the zombies can apparently teleport and go from being 500 feet away to 5 feet in a matter of moments just so that they can get in a cheap jump scare and kill another character. The good news is the characters are so flat and boring you won't care.
What we're left with is a movie with a lot, and I mean A LOT, of shots of people standing around staring. The zombies stare. The character stare. And after some staring they either chase or fight each other. But I can only assume that their budget couldn't cover any decent special effects so it's a lot of people being killed off-screen.
After the first twenty minutes I was just watching it in a sort of fascinated horror waiting for any sort of hint of a plot. But none ever arrived. Spend your time on ANYTHING else.
P.S. The character who is blissfully unaware of what is going on was kiiiinda a funny idea but the idea that the main characters wouldn't even bother to tell him was just as stupid as the rest of their decisions. Especially since he too can teleport like the zombies do and apparently cannot be seen in the side view mirror on cars. -
If you're like me - a fan of zombie films for more than just gore or action, a fan of creative new takes on the zombie film genre - then you won't waste your time with this one.
I will warn you: it's slow-paced, and many complain about the lack of character development. I disagree with that point. The characterization isn't spot on, but it's not nonexistent. People also have complained about the ambiguity.
But. The cinematography, as some have said, is beautiful to watch. The characters are believable. The soundtrack is well done. And the ambiguity, to me, was kind of the point. We don't always know why a zombie does or does not act in a certain way, or where the virus originated, or whether the military is still out there.
If you feel like watching something thought-provoking, and aren't just looking for some cheap laughs or scares, give this a try and stay the course. Then tell me what you think. 👍 -
paul_haakonsen1 October 2020I happened to sit down to try to get through the 2017 for the second time again now in 2020. I tried it the first time back in 2019, but had to give up out of boredom. And I managed to sit through it now in 2020. And me giving up on a zombie movie is almost sacrilegious.
Right, well "Les affamés" (aka "Ravenous") was by no account an overly interesting movie, and for a zombie or infected people movie, then it was just outright rubbish. And I have no idea what writer and director Robin Aubert was trying to accomplish with this storyline. I mean the infected people - or zombies if you will - were constructing tower-like monoliths out of chairs or toys. What was that all about?
The storyline as a whole was pretty straight forward as the zombie / infected people movies tend to go. So there were no surprises or twists along the way. And in that aspect, you know what you get here, as it is all very generic and predictable.
As for the characters, well, this is where the movie definitely snapped for me. Because the character gallery is just so very bland and pointless that you don't even care an inch about them. It is hard to tell where one character ends and the next begins, as they just blended into one massive faceless mass.
"Les affamés" wasn't running heavily on the usage of special effects, in fact they were scarcely seen throughout the course of the movie. This was also something that took away from the overall enjoyment of the movie.
I managed to sit through the entire movie this time around, but I was by no means overly thrilled or entertained by what the movie turned out to be. My rating of "Les affamés" ends on a mere three out of ten stars. -
markj-025565 March 2018In a small, remote village in upstate Quebec, things have changed. Locals are not the same anymore. Something mysterious has happened, their bodies are breaking down and they have turned against their loved ones. A handful of survivors goes hiding into the woods, looking for others like them.
Ravenous is written and directed by Robin Aubert (Saint Martyrs of the Dammed). It stars Marc-Andre Grondin (C.R.A.Z.Y.), Monica Chokri (Heartbeats) and Charlotte St-Martin in her film acting debut.
What I like about this film is that it is all about tension in stead of the usual boring jump scares. The amount of tension makes it hard to watch, which I think works in its favor. It makes you feel that you are unable to breath all the way through the film. The acting is fantastic as well, especially from Marc-Andre Grondin. But what I like most about this film is the simply sublime direction, is easily the best direction I've seen from a Netflix original film, and easily sum of the best direction I've seen so far this year.
Sadly this film isn't perfect, you can tell characters are going to die as soon as you see them. Act one drags on as well, Trust me though watch it up too the 30mins mark and you will start to be entertained. The one thing which I hated most about this film was a character dressed like a soldier who sometimes just pops up randomly to say hello to the main characters. His whole character was so unnecessary, without his character this fil m could be a solid 9/10.
It is a tough watch, but in my opinion its worth it.
7/10 -
Ok, first things first. I am not a critic. I am just a normal audience watching 1 movie a day. I hadnt seen the trailer, so I had no idea what I was expecting. the Genre "drama & horror", is given to the movie. Where there is some drama, the horror part is no where to be seen. Positive: great landscapes. I guess the first zombie movie with such scenery. some effective humor here and there. Negative: It is DULL: very slow pacing, camera focus on a character for 30 secs, without anything happening. no expressions, no message. just dullness. It is Dumb: the characters do not live in real world. OR they all are in total shock (which is hard to beleive since it has been weeks and months they have been living like this). The decisions made make no sense. for example in an important scene a group of people while realising they have been ambushed, live the house on foot (there are cars around which they can use). but they dont. No idea why. Zombies are like ghosts, they appear out of no where. In one shot a character is alert holiding a gun in open, next shot she is bitten by a single zombie. why didnt she shoot her, how did she not see her coming? not answered. I like when a director leaves a hint and let the audience use his/ her imagination but in this case my imagination couldnt catch up. I was left clueless. Verdict: if you are looking for a zombie horror movie, skip this. you will be disappointed.
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ayameofazuma15 October 2020People are complaining that it was too slow paced, but once it got past the beginning I thought it was really good and suspenseful and I have no attention span for slow movies. But what is with movies not having an ending anymore?! Once again it wasn't even a cliffhanger; it's like the directors don't know where to go with it anymore and so they just end it. They never explained anything like why all the zombies build furniture towers either. And was that woman's bite really from a dog? We will never know. But the only part that annoyed me was why did she lug this huge accordion around the whole time on the run from fast running zombies?! I can think of a million better things to carry during an apocalypse.