Warning: This article contains spoilers.

Zombie movies typically involve lots of jumpscares, anxiety-inducing chase scenes, and gore. Such core elements make the genre appealing to audiences. Despite the adrenaline they give us, we enjoy the thrill of seeing human characters struggle against zombies.

But as enjoyable as this formula is, it loses its charm with how repetitive it has become. With the same elements getting overused, zombie stories become too predictable and less exciting.

Thankfully, Netflix Philippines’ first local zombie film, Outside, deviates from this formula and breathes new life into the zombie genre. Directed by Carlo Ledesma, it follows a family of four, consisting of Francis Abel (Sid Lucero), his wife Iris (Beauty Gonzales), and his sons Joshua (Marco Masa) and Lucas (Aiden Tyler Patdu), who retreat to a remote farmhouse at a sugarcane plantation to escape a zombie apocalypse.

During the family’s stay in the farmhouse, unresolved issues within the household prove to be a bigger threat than the apocalypse itself. Interestingly, the apocalypse is merely a backdrop to the larger, more complex conflict that gradually unfolds in the story.

By veering away from the typical trappings of zombie films, Outside focuses on how the unresolved within us can turn us into monsters more horrifying than zombies.

A harrowing look into generational trauma

(Photo from Outside (2024)/Netflix)

Right off the bat, Ledesma already tells the audience what the film is really about. Rather than showing hordes of zombies or anything that would indicate the presence of an apocalypse, the opening scene shows the family in a van—worn out, anxious, and with tensions palpable in the air. Moments later, it reveals Francis and Iris’ crumbling marriage, and a dark secret from the past makes it hard for them to reconcile. Meanwhile, Joshua and Lucas are innocently caught in the crossfire, as their parents’ relationship brings them distress.

Francis hopes to mend the dysfunction in his family, but his efforts are in vain as his past suddenly catches up to him. Ever since they stepped foot on the farmhouse, his childhood trauma began to resurface, bringing back buried memories and emotions. From time to time, his memory of the trauma haunts him, as he sees flashbacks of his father (Joel Torre), who would lock him up in the basement and physically abuse him.

Though the film never showed the complete picture of his trauma, it is clear that this experience left a deep wound in him that started bleeding again when he returned to the farmhouse, the exact place where it happened. This predicament is then exacerbated by the stress brought by the zombie apocalypse and his recent encounter with his older brother Diego (James Blanco), whose presence reminded him of his affair with Iris—the very reason for their deteriorating marriage. And as his trauma gets the best of him, he projects it on his own family, consequently passing down the abuse to his children.

Through Francis’ character, portrayed impeccably by Lucero, the film is able to paint a frighteningly realistic portrait of generational trauma—in particular, how victims inevitably repeat the cycle of abuse.

There can be various reasons why victims end up becoming abusers. According to psychologist Elizabeth Hartney, one common reason is that victims see it as a way for them to cope with the powerlessness they once felt, regaining a “sense of power and control” they were deprived of. By becoming an abuser in a relationship, the abused assumes the role of the more powerful person and overcomes their feelings of inadequacy by dominating someone else. And because they view this as a normal way of interacting in a relationship, they may not realize that there are healthier ways of overcoming their trauma.

Francis demonstrates this. Initially, he appeared to be the ideal patriarch—doing everything he could to protect his family from the zombie outbreak. From driving them to safety to single-handedly fighting a horde of zombies that attacked them, he proved his devotion to his family. But ironically, his position as a patriarch became the vehicle in which he projected his trauma on his family. As Francis defended them from the dangers of the apocalypse, he felt a sense of power. The more he kept his family from danger, the more powerful he felt, and he soon discovered how much he enjoyed exercising control over them. Thus, when certain circumstances started to threaten his power over them, madness took over him.

When Iris noticed that the zombies were getting weaker and becoming less dangerous, the possibility of losing power over his family got to him. In response, he stages being swamped by a horde of zombies to disprove Iris’ deduction and give him a reason to barricade the house. Through this, he maintained a sense of power over his family and imprisoned them inside the house, mirroring what his father did to him as a child.

But the worst was yet to come, as the eldest son, Joshua, decided to leave the house after getting sick of his father’s actions. His departure gives the biggest blow to Francis’ sanity, leading him to descend into the deepest pit of madness we’ve seen yet. Fearing that Iris and Lucas may leave him next, he locks them in the basement—the same place his father used to lock him in. From here, it is clear that he had already lost control of himself, failing to notice how he had become just like his father—the man he always feared.

The art of slow-burn storytelling

(Photo from Outside (2024)/Netflix)

While the lack of action and suspense may not be enjoyable to some, it is actually what elevates the horror of the film.

By centering on Francis’ character and the atmosphere his actions create, the film emphasizes the terrifying effects of leaving one’s trauma unresolved. The slow pacing gives the audience a careful look at Francis’ disturbed psyche, letting them digest the slow but drastic change that he went through. It starts out with the man he used to be—troubled by his past, but did not seem the type to harm his family. In turn, this allows the latter events of the film to become more climactic, as the audience witnesses how the devoted family man they were presented with gradually becomes an unrecognizable monster.

Furthermore, the film’s brilliant sound design also heightens the horror. Throughout the film, minimal background music is used, even in intense scenes. This subtle soundscape gives the film an eerie, foreboding mood that accentuates the terror conveyed in Francis’ interactions with his family. With no loud sounds overpowering the characters’ lines, the intensity of Francis’ emotions, from his mental strain to his rage, are clearly illustrated.

While some of the dialogue could have been more conversational, Outside nonetheless succeeds in showing how the worst horrors exist not around us but in our flawed, fragile humanity. By showing how Francis’ unhealed trauma caused him to plunge into insanity, it invites us to take a look within ourselves and any unresolved issues we may have that may lead us to harm the people around us.

Moreover, the film, being a character study of an abuse victim, proves that horror films can still bring terror even without the usual jumpscares and chase scenes that we’ve grown to enjoy. Watching zombies eat humans certainly keeps us on our toes, but nothing is more disturbing than being reminded of how easily humans can turn into monsters.