Forgive Us All

It turns out Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family had it easy. This homesteading mother must contend with viral-rage-zombies, cannibals, and over-zealous quarantine enforcers. Rather conveniently (for them), the second and third are one and the same. You can’t blame her for remaining secluded in the family cabin with her grizzled father-in-law. Unfortunately, she still blames herself for her daughter’s death, so she hopes to achieve some redemption by helping a stranger in Jordana Stott’s Forgive Us All, which releases today on UK VOD.

Rory and her late husband’s father, Otto, try to keep to themselves and maintain a low profile—for good reason. Logan and Scout are those reasons. The former is apparently the leader of a clan of cannibals who have forged an alliance with the quarantine colony managed by the latter’s colleagues. Frankly, Stott and co-screenwriters do a poor job establishing the basics of this post-apocalyptic, neo-Western world, but that is a functional hypothesis.

Regardless, Logan, Scout, and a disposable henchman are chasing Noah, because he stole a vial of their antidote to save his infected daughter. Unfortunately, he did not get away clean. Having collapsed outside the cabin, Rory shelters him for the night, despite Otto’s misgivings. Of course, the three villains soon ride up demanding they surrender Noah. They offer to ignore Rory’s quarantine violations, even though they dismiss her private property assertions. According to Logan they abolished private land ownership, so we know which side Mamdani would ride with—and once again, it is not the good guys.

Frankly, there are seeds of potential greatness in Forgive Us All, but Stott can’t do them justice. By far, her biggest sin is the sluggish pacing. Basically, this film is the Power of the Dog of zombie westerns, but only in the unflattering ways. As previously alluded to, the world-building is also decidedly sketchy.

However, cinematographer Peter McCaffrey makes the New Zealand landscape look harshly beautiful and appropriately unforgiving. Richard Roxburgh is also terrific as grouchy old Otto, while Lily Sullivan broods decently as Rory.

The cast is fine. Forgive Us All just needed more zombies, more gunfights, more dystopian outbreak speculation—pretty much more of everything. There’s just not enough there there. Not recommended, Forgive Us All releases today (10/13) on VOD in the UK and it already streams in the US on Roku Channel.