Anna and the Apocalypse facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Anna and the Apocalypse
UK theatrical release poster
Directed by	John McPhail
Produced by	Naysun Alae-Carew Nicholas Crum Tracy Jarvis
Screenplay by	Alan McDonald Ryan McHenry
Starring	Ella Hunt Malcolm Cumming Sarah Swire Christopher Leveaux Marli Siu Ben Wiggins Mark Benton Paul Kaye
Music by	Roddy Hart Tommy Reilly
Cinematography	Sara Deane
Editing by	Mark Hermida
Studio	Blazing Griffin Parkhouse Pictures Constellation Creatives Creative Scotland
Distributed by	Vertigo Releasing
Release date(s)	22 September 2017 (2017-09-22) (Fantastic Fest) 30 November 2018 (2018-11-30) (United Kingdom)
Running time	98 minutes (theatrical cut)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Money made	$670,430

Anna and the Apocalypse is a 2017 British Christmas zombie musical film directed by John McPhail from a screenplay by Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry based on McHenry's 2010 BAFTA nominated short Zombie Musical. It stars an ensemble cast of largely unknown young talent, including Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Marli Siu, Ben Wiggins, Mark Benton and Paul Kaye.

The film premiered at Fantastic Fest on 22 September 2017. It was released in the United Kingdom by Vertigo Releasing and United States by Orion Pictures on 30 November 2018 to generally positive reviews from critics, commending the performances, musical numbers and characterisation.

Cast

Production

Development

In 2009, whilst attending Edinburgh College of Art, Ryan McHenry came up with the idea for a 'zombie musical' short film, taking inspiration from High School Musical. In 2010, McHenry wrote and directed the short film in Dumfries High School, with his friends Naysun Alae-Carew as producer and Ryan Clachrie as production designer. In 2011, the short film titled Zombie Musical won Best Producer (Short Form) for Alaw-Carew at the British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards and received two additional nominations, including Best Director (McHenry) and Best Original Music (Toby Mottershead). Black Camel, a Glasgow-based production company, expressed interest in developing a feature-length film based on the short, with McHenry directing and Alae-Carew producing. McHenry was also hired to co-write the screenplay with Alan McDonald.

In 2013, development was halted when McHenry was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. After entering remission, he returned to work on the project with McDonald, now titled Anna and the Apocalypse. In May 2015, McHenry passed away from cancer, though Alae-Carew and McDonald continued to develop the project. The film was dedicated to McHenry, who died two years before the film's release.

Writing

By 2016, John McPhail had taken over as director with McDonald as sole screenwriter, though McHenry received credit as co-writer. McPhail was at first over joining as director before production. "They’d all been doing this together and all of a sudden here I come in. I was nervous about it, but they welcomed me with open arms, they really, really did and that made everything nice and easy". Following McHenry's death, the initial draft of the film's script had a darker, cynical tone, which McDonald believed was due to McHenry's passing. "The reason that draft was so dark was because I missed my friend... I guess, in the story that we were always telling and what ultimately became Ryan’s story. Finding a way for us all to rediscover the joy of it was what I think kept us on target and ultimately created the movie that we’ve made now."

Music

In 2014, Roddy Hart was hired to write the film's songs, in collaboration with Tommy Reilly.

Filming

Principal photography took place over five weeks between 16 January and 22 February 2017 in and around the Inverclyde area near Glasgow. Production was primarily based at the former building of St. Stephen's High School at Southfield Avenue, Port Glasgow. The film was produced by Blazing Griffin Pictures, Black Camel Pictures, Parkhouse Pictures and Creative Scotland.

Inspirations

Director John McPhail said that Anna and the Apocalypse was influenced by the films West Side Story (1961), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Breakfast Club (1985), as well as the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More, with Feeling". McPhail also said that the film includes "nods" to the zombie films Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), The Evil Dead (1981), The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) and Shaun of the Dead (2004). The crop tops and short shorts seen in the film were inspired by the costume design in the slasher film Sleepaway Camp (1983).

Soundtrack

A soundtrack consisting of 13 songs from the film was released on 23 November 2018.

The deleted song, "Which Side Are You On?", is featured only on the vinyl release and director's cut. Another deleted song, "Some Things Will Never Change", is present in the bonus features of the Blu-ray release.

Release

Anna and the Apocalypse had its world premiere in the Fantastic Fest on 22 September 2017. On 5 October 2017, the film held its European premiere at Sitges Film Festival in Catalonia, Spain.

On 10 January 2018, it was picked up for North and Latin American theatrical distribution by Orion Pictures. In the United States, the film received a limited theatrical release on 30 November 2018, with a nationwide expansion on 7 December.

Home media

The US theatrical release (93 minutes) was only given a digital release on 12 February 2019. It was made available on Hulu on 13 November 2019.

The film was released on region 2 DVD on 8 April 2019, by Vertigo Releasing through Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment. It was released in a region-free two-disc Blu-ray on 2 December 2019, by Second Sight Films. Both the UK theatrical release (97 minutes) and the director's cut (108 minutes) are included in the set, the latter containing roughly ten minutes of footage absent from the theatrical version.

See also

In Spanish: Anna and the Apocalypse para niños