Overlord (2018) - Review

An unflinching, brutal war horror dubbed “The Best Modern B Movie”, Overlord is a complete thrill ride

On the eve of D Day, Nazi Occupied France, the American branch of allied paratroopers are sent on a mission to seize a radio tower and gain an advantage in the raid. Shot down oversea and the unit now fractured, Boyce (Johan Adepo) links with remaining squad members: Tibbet (John Magaro), Chase (Iain De Caestecker), Rosenfeld (Dominic Applewhite) and briefly Dawson (Jacob Anderson), all lead by Ford (Wyatt Russell) as they set out to finish their mission against all odds.

Backed by JJ Abrams and his Bad Robot production company, his involvement sparked rumours of a Cloverfield tag and frankly I’m glad the film exists in its own plane. One of few examples I can think of that blends both the genres of horror and war, the hybrid is really well executed in that sense, I remember both the trailer and my first viewing of being absolutely gripping, grim and terrifying to say the least. The concept of ‘Nazi Zombies’ isn’t an original one but Julius Avery’s take on it was refreshing and as far as horror goes, was one of the best films I’ve seen in a while.

Despite missing this at the cinema as I was underage at the time, I feel as though there isn’t much lost in the viewing experience when consuming the film. Initially having seen this on Blu-Ray then rewatching it via Sky cinema, the quality of the film transcends the boundaries of format. I’ve seen this consistently described as a ‘B Movie’ and in some sense I can understand that but I feel it’s a bit of an unwarranted tag. Yes it’s outlandish and perhaps a little bit camp and overacted but it’s played serious and benefits massively from that.

Focusing in more more isolated aspects of the film, I’d like to start firstly with the performances on screen. If you believe the ‘B Movie’ tag holds any weight, then it’s best evidenced by the lack of depth to the members of the supporting cast, the rest of the squad outside of Boyce and Ford don’t really get much of a chance to shine, look at Jacob Anderson’s appearance that is little more than a cameo. The supporting boys are little used in the film till later action sequences but I found that the main branch of the cast: Boyce, Ford, Chloe (Mathilde Olivier) and the main villain Captain Wafner (Pilou Asbæk, also of Game of Thrones fame) are exceptional. Wafner is a little cliched and to a degree forced he is used in a rather surprising fashion When he’s captured by the protagonists early on, it’s a clever mask for him to deliver the necessary exposition and when he morphs into the enhanced ghoul by the finale, his physical presence is titanic and he really looks over the scenery. Olivier’s performance as Chloe gives a strong female lead but you’ve to look no further than Russell and Adepo for the highlight of the film. British-American Adepo whose career highlight prior to this was as Cory Maxson in Fences (2016), and since having minor roles in Watchmen (2019) his star is well and truly on the rise. As the viewfinder for the audience, the character of Boyce is well written in the context of a horror film and I felt such quality added to the tension in parts, aside from that his arc was utterly compelling. Adepo’s performance swinging from the terrified to hardened warrior and the stand in squad leader was the most entertaining aspect, his growth was organic and felt justified. Matching him toe to toe however was Wyatt Russel. Having seen a fair amount of his father’s work during lockdown Incan see elements of his charm here if anything bested by his son. With his arc being the opposite of Adepo’s rise, the film allowed him to give a nuanced performance shining with true moments of action stardom and breaking the tone when needed with some light, comedic outings. When the two cross over in the films finale it makes for great viewing and is one of the wildest finales I’ve seen in some time.

Jovan Adepo and Wyatt Russell in action, the two takeaway stars from the film

The action and horror elements were also outstanding. To again harp on about the finale, that scene where Boyce and Ford team up against Wafner was chillingly grim and that escape sequence that closes off the film was outstandingly shot. Though as times it did feel like it was more fitting of a video game and that first person control they offer it was still largely cinematic. Outside of the closing sequence the film is fairly conservative with its use of action, tending to focus more so on the characters, though I can’t and won’t complain about that. With more sequences of suspense opposed to outright action, every encounter is exceptionally well crafted, be that the inspection of the house from Nazi soldiers, the reanimation of Chase which was brutal might I add, or the breakneck opening 15 minutes it was stunningly directed. The horror in my opinion felt as it went by the wayside, I remember the trailer seeming horrific and to be honest that first watch, when everything was novel it carried over, the elements of body horror were so horrifically detailed and the tension was borderline overwhelming though it seemed upon rewatch if it had slightly lessened.

In all, Overlord is still very much an overlooked hidden gem and one of the better films of 2018. A masterclass on war horror, an often overlooked genre, I’d highly recommend this if you’ve not seen it yet.