Z for Zachariah

Filmmaker Craig Zobel's post-apocalyptic survival tale revolves around the last three people on Earth, who are trying to restore power in a remote valley somewhere in Appalachia. For more than a year, deeply religious Ann Burden (Margot Robbie) has believed that she was the only human on the planet following an unspecified nuclear disaster. In addition to scavenging for supplies in a nearby ghost town, she plants crops that she can harvest and hunts game, hoping to make it through another brutal winter. Suddenly, the lonely, yet self-sufficient Ann encounters John Loomis (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a research scientist who was wearing a radiation-proof suit when the devastation hit. John is an atheist but he respects Ann's devotion to the small chapel built by her preacher father. Just as their tentative relationship begins to thrive, along comes charming Caleb (Chris Pine), who declares that he's also a Christian and immediately becomes John's skulking rival for sweet-natured Ann's affection after she invites him to join them in the spacious farmhouse. Inspired by Robert C. O'Brien's posthumously published 1974 novel, Z for Zachariah is a complex relationship drama that builds to a contrived yet still somewhat ambiguous climax. And while Robbie and Ejiofor are effective, Pine is all too obvious as the scheming interloper. A strong optional purchase. (S. Granger)