If you are sick of zombies and pandemics, please do not let that stop you from watching The Cured! In an audaciously nuanced feature film directorial debut, David Freyne creates a world set in Ireland where zombies can be cured, but they remember what they did and reenter society as a new despised underclass. Sam Keeley plays Senan who is considered one of the lucky ones because he still has living family who want him to return home and do not reject him for killing, but he still feels tied to the relationships and bonds that he forged while he was not in control. He is stuck in between worlds.
The Cured is the kind of movie that plays on the assumptions that viewers bring then as the film unfolds, the viewer must constantly recalibrate and take a more nuanced position. Instinctually you may want to classify a character as good or bad, but by the end, it feels as if it is too much of an oversimplification considering the emotional journey that Freyne takes the viewer on. I was concerned that the film was going to take a regressive, traditional political Hollywood turn near the denouement, but am relieved that Freyne consistently steered the ship into ambiguous waters in a satisfying way. All the characters are human beings who want to feel safe, loved and fulfilled. No one is as bad or good as we want to believe.
Freyne depicts the problem of violence. The cured have an excuse for their murderous actions, but the uninfected’s fear clouds their judgment as they are violent and act like monsters without any excuse. Larger forces out of their control only magnify their best and worst tendencies. Under slightly different circumstances, nothing may happen, but just enough of a mix of various characters’ bad behavior create a volatility that endangers everyone. Are the cured cured? Once you have committed violence, can you ever stop? Is violence endemic to being human?
Even though Ireland’s tumultuous history is never explicitly referenced, the historical divisions act as a proper backdrop that imbues the simple story with additional historical significance that another location would not. The idea that family could be the enemy, i.e. a terrorist or occupier, is a concept that is not foreign so the images of the military clashing with ordinary people seems oddly familiar and has a quotidian normalcy that it would not necessarily have if it was set in another region. It is hard to just exist as a normal person and live an ordinary life in this atmosphere without one’s existence gravitating in a militarized direction. Freyne’s most provocative idea is to depict an existence that can navigate both sides while refusing to choose one. The Cured consistently chooses life over death even in the face of mortal danger and absolutely rejects murder, i.e. a pat, quick solution to give life a chance to resolve problems. The film forges a path of comfort in ambiguity and existence in pain without trying to rise above it by grasping at the fiction of power and safety, which makes it an oddly hopeful horror movie.
As a horror movie, The Cured works! I usually hate constant flashbacks, but the present is peppered with flashbacks of the fateful day when Senan was turned and made his first kill. Each shot heightens the suspense and terror of the nature of these mindless monsters and how they act. Freyne perfectly paces the movie by balancing dialogue with action so it does not feel like another empty movie looking for thrills. It earns them. It takes what Romero started and infuses it with complex emotion and psychological terror. You will care if the characters live or die. I suspected one character’s sinister direction because Freyne seemed to make a visual reference to my favorite horror movie, John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (1978), complete with wardrobe choices.
I patted myself on the back for noticing various warning signs. There are numerous helpful real-life lessons that you can learn from The Cured and apply in real life. Never lie or omit anything because it will come back and hurt you later. If someone encourages you to lie, creates a problem and offers themselves as the solution, lies to you then rationalizes it, run. If someone tries to isolate you from other people and leave themselves as the only option, you are being manipulated. Don’t be mean to murderers, even if it wasn’t their fault.
The Cured’s cast is phenomenal. Keeley is an amazing actor, and with no special effects and a little makeup, he utterly transforms himself from raging monster to meek man. Even though Senan is the protagonist, every supporting character is fully brought to life even without lines. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor plays Conor, Senan’s foil, another member of the cured trying to find his way after the rampage. Most Americans would probably not recognize him, but he played Ebony Maw in “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019) so you can imagine how talented he is if like Josh Brolin, he can make audiences forget that they are watching a CGI creation. In the flesh, he is a haunting, unforgettable presence.
Because of Keeley and Vaughan-Lawlor’s intimate exchanges, I misunderstood Senan’s relationship to an often-referenced character, Luke. Because the most intense, silent relationship is between Senan and Conor, I automatically assumed that it was romantic, not fraternal. I forget that men from other cultures are comfortable touching each other and being very close without it necessarily being sexual. Conor and Senan’s body language gave me chills in good and bad ways. There was almost a vampiric vibe to it. Also I lived in Manhattan during the eighties during the AIDS pandemic. Two skinny men talking about recovering from an illness while fearing rejection from their family creates different associations for me.
When Elliot Page, pre coming out as a trans man, is introduced as Senan’s sister-in-law, Abie, I did not assume heteronormativity. I initially thought that she was Luke’s sister, and Senan was married to Luke, especially when she said that it was Luke’s house. It seemed more instinctual to me that Luke and Senan were married, and Abbie agreed to have their baby, not that Luke got married to Abbie, and instead of getting his own place, they decided to live with Senan, the single guy. What? Maybe it is a cultural difference between America and Ireland. Even as the daughter of an immigrant, we take care of our parents, but siblings tend to go their own way.
My gut brought a queer reading to this movie from the start, and I do not think that it just is me. The Cured intended to create a dynamic where Senan is part of a triangle of relationships: Senan, Luke and Conor; Senan, Abbie and Cillian; Senan, Abbie and Conor; and Senan, Conor and Cillian. Senan’s choices are embodied in people. Luke was his innocent past. Abbie presents a future, normal life. Connor is his violent past and a trauma riddled present/future. Cillian is his only connection to Luke. There are literal signs throughout the film signaling which route Senan will take. I’m not kidding.The Cured is available on Hulu, but I would recommend paying to see it on any other platform. I’ll give Freyne a blank check and see his next movie, “Dating Amber” (2020), even though it is not the kind of movie that I would normally watch.