Brain Freeze (2021) by Julien Knafo ***Fantasia Festival 2021***


Director: Julien Knafo
Year: 2021
Country: Canada
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie

Plot:
Preparing for a winter storm, the residents of a small Quebec-centered island are shocked to learn that their friends and neighbors have turned into flesh-eating zombies created by a golf resort looking to grow greener grass for playing during the winter and must try to get to safety before the city is overrun.

Review:

There’s quite a lot to like with this one. One of the strongest aspects featured here is the early work here to give us an idea of the community before the main invasion sets in. The very fact-of-life presentation here with the look at the family getting ready for the day, the workers at the golf resort preparing for the upcoming guests when it opens for the season, and the police officers attempting to patrol the area creates a fantastic starting point for the film to five into the world created here. As this gives way to a fun and lighthearted but not quite funny setup, generally everything here is quite fun and inviting to what’s happening later.

This early work goes a long way towards enabling the fun that comes along with the zombie outbreak throughout the community. Those early confrontations at the golf resort or the family being confronted by their turned member are just goofy enough to have some lighthearted moments while keeping some suspenseful moments in play here due to the fact that the zombies are shown to be vicious and bloodthirsty. The confrontations within the house trying to outwit and outmaneuver the infected trying to get away from them and escape offer up quite a lot of fun chases, some nice humor, and some gory kills along the way.


The second half to this one is where the film picks up nicely. With the reveal of the zombie threat and who’s responsible, the series of encounters between the few survivors and the zombie horde still there is quite fun with the scenes at the treatment plan t or the golf resort that includes several fine confrontations and the evolution of the zombies into a different look which comes off nicely. Since this one also manages to incorporate a decidedly pointed commentary on the nature of the rich poisoning themselves for their own vanity for the sake of the poor, there’s much to like here in this part of the film that overcomes the film’s lone flaw.

There’s only that one issue plaguing this one, which is the lack of information that comes from the zombies. They seem to behave in accordance with the scenes’ demand, running after victims when there’s nothing it needs to do with them yet enables the ability for them to be handled safely with select tools and instruments so that they are calm and docile when need be. The changes done whenever the film demands it is the big factor that somewhat undermines the suspense here when the creatures that are acting as threats create such a problem. This is enough to lower the film slightly but isn’t much compared to the other positives.


Overview: ****/5
A highly enjoyable and fun Canadian zombie effort that has a lot of fun positives and only a single negative factor, this one comes off incredibly well with quite a lot to like about it. Give this a shot if you’re a fan of the genre or the style approached here while only those that don’t like the style or are burned out on the zombie genre should heed caution.


This review ran as part of our coverage of the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival. Click the banner below to check out all of our coverage, including reviews and interviews, from the event:

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