Short Film Review: DAWN OF THE DEAF (2016) 

The Zombie apocalypse movie has become such an established sub genre of Horror films, that it’s even been subverted into horror-comedies with movies like ‘Shaun Of The Dead’. Currently we’re experiencing a resurgence of the Zombie movie genre with the successful TV incarnation of ‘Ash Vs. Evil Dead’, not to mention the unstoppable juggernaut that is ‘The Walking Dead’.

But one Zombie short film may redefine the genre even more, with a completely different twist on the Zombie movie.

Read on for my spoiler-free Review of ‘Dawn Of The Deaf’.

Dawn of the Deaf (2016) Trailer from Rob Savage on Vimeo.

‘Dawn Of The Deaf’ has a very simple premise really, but with immense potential. A devastating sonic pulse of apocalyptic proportions slowly starts killing off the human race. Soon after though, they are reborn, condemned to walk the earth as the dead, risen. Only a small group of people were unable to hear the pulse, due to their hearing disability; leaving them as the only survivors in a Zombie Apocalypse.

While the title and premise may sound gimmicky, the short film really separates itself from other formulaic movies with a similar plot. It’s a refreshing concept in a genre that otherwise has been done to death. What’s even more surprising, is that this isn’t a subversive comedy, spoof or other genre mashup, but an actual serious drama about the zombie apocalypse. The film works wonderfully solely because of its decision to be more character based, than an event story. The story starts by introducing the audience to the soon-to-be group of survivors, all from different walks of life, in their everyday lives because everything hits the fan.

A young deaf girl with a difficult family situation. A bickering lesbian couple. A man being awarded for his achievements in the community. Writer-director Rob Savage spends enough time with each character, even in a short film format, for the audience to really connect with and become right away emotionally invested in their lives. For a Zombie movie, ‘Dawn Of The Deaf’ focuses more on its characters, establishing the characters as three dimensional, before introducing the main conflict of the story.

‘Dawn Of The Deaf’ may initially sound like a film that’s exploitative of people with disabilities, but Savage does not pander, nor does he come off as ignorant to the lifestyles of the hearing disabled.  Instead he creates these characters where their inability to hear is only apparent to us, the audience, whereas the situations and circumstances they are living are relatable and real, without even having that aspect in their background.

The film also features this amazing dichotomy that relates to sound, and the way in which it’s engineered in the movie, for audiences with hearing capabilities, but then we also get a perspective of the same sound from the viewpoint of the main characters, all of whom are hearing disabled. It’s a very small way in which Savage distinguishes between the world of the hearing abled versus the challenged, and it immerses one in his world right away.

‘Dawn Of The Deaf’ successfully creates a new concept in an already established genre of films, but more importantly, focuses on the human elements that makes the story so much more than the conventional genre film.

‘Dawn Of The Deaf’ has had a very successful Festival run across the globe. However, there is currently no official release date for the short film.

Subscribe to the site, or stay tuned to this Review for an update on when the film announces a public release date.

Writer Director Rob Savage plans on making ‘Dawn Of The Deaf’ into a feature length film and is currently working towards achieving that.

You can find out more about Rob Savage including contact information at his official website here.

You can follow the movie itself on the official ‘Dawn Of The Deaf’ website here.