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"Z For Zachariah"
HHH
U.S. Dramatic
After the apocalypse, it's going to be really quiet, at least in the world of "Z for Zachariah," a low-key drama set after a massive nuclear catastrophe. Ann (Margot Robbie, from "The Wolf of Wall Street") is a plucky country gal who thinks she's the only person left alive in the world — until she sees John ("12 Years a Slave" star Chiwetel Ejiofor), an ailing engineer who is surprised that Ann's holler is not radioactive. Ann nurses John back to health and the beginnings of a romance seem to be stirring, until a local coal miner, Caleb (Chris Pine), shows up to set the end-of-the-world love triangle into motion. Director Craig Zobel ("Compliance") and screenwriter Nissar Modi adapt the 1974 novel by Robert C. O'Brien (who also wrote the book that spawned "The Secret of NIMH") into a quietly intense look at the way humans react when the worst is going on around them. Robbie and Pine give solid performances, but what makes "Z for Zachariah" take off is the detail in Ejiofor's portrayal of the rational scientist confronted with emotional irrationality.
- Sean P. Means
"Z for Zachariah" screens in the U.S. Dramatic competition of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It screens again: Sunday, 9 p.m., Sundance Screening Room, Sundance resort; Monday, 8:30 a.m., Prospector Square Theatre, Park City; Thursday, 9:45 p.m., Eccles Theatre, Park City; Friday, 9:15 p.m., The Grand Theatre, Salt Lake City; Saturday, 3 p.m., Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City.