DRAMA

Kevin finally asks his coworker Rachael after a decade long crush on her. She surprisingly says yes, but unfortunately the two must have their first date during the beginning of a zombie apocalypse.

FAIR

THIRD PERSON

Authors Writing Style: GOOD

Characterization: FAIR

Commerciality: GOOD

Franchise Potential: FAIR

Pace: FAIR

Premise: GOOD

Structure: FAIR

Theme: FAIR

The logline does a good job alluding to the zombie outbreak without giving away the added element to the romance, but the short summary could benefit from an earlier integration of the zombie apocalypse so that Rachael doesn't seem like a vampire. The story is different if Rachael becomes a zombie against her will versus a romance where Kevin doesn't notice his crush is a vampire. Clarifying things in the short summary would better reflect the narrative.

Kevin's bravery in starting to transform his passive life by taking an active approach in making changes in his life to form meaningful human connections rather than superficial friendships. Seeing a guy finally ask out his crush always creates intriguing tension.

There is an equal focus to the zombie apocalypse as is the normal life of the London office, however the jumping between characters in the Zombie apocalypse doesn't have the same emotional investment in following the survival of the same characters. This creates spikes in tension rather than rising actions that slowly build the tension until it is intertwined in both stories.

THE STORY RELIES HEAVILY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS

The hook is that a zombie apocalypse is going on in the background of the world news while Kevin is finally getting a chance at love.

This could have a large fanbase given the cross genre appeal of a romantic comedy and a zombie film but with a freshness of not making it a zombie love story.

Given its genres as an romantic comedy and a zombie apocalypse film without a greater social message this is unlikely to get nominations, but could be commercially successful.

MEDIUM BUDGET

TRAIN TO BUSAN, THE WALKING DEAD, IN THE FLESH, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, SCOUT'S GUIDE TO A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

The originality of the story stems from the shyness and interaction between Kevin and Rachael and Kevin's timing rather than the actual standard zombie outbreak going on around the world. By focusing more of Kevin and Rachael trying to create a romance during the apocalypse rather than ignorant of the apocalypse but concurrent this may increase the freshness of a zombie love story without acutally making one of the couple a zombie. The switch could provide common parallels to the recent pandemic even.

Kevin is kind hearted and wholesomely genuine. He is precious without being naive. Rachael is open-minded and nice. She possesses a self-confidence that allows her to truly be open and giving to others without judgement due to her satisfaction with herself.

This is a neat premise, but the equal balance between a looming apocalypse leading towards intertwining with the romance creates two different levels of tension and tone. It also delays the pacing of the love story without having equal tension and an earlier connection between the two worlds.

Film - Indie, Film - Streaming, Film - Studio, TV Series - Network, TV Series - Cable, TV Series - Limited Run / Mini-Series, TV Series - Streaming

WORK IN PROGRESS

While the story has many positive points, it has room for improvement (see possible paths below). If you can't change the story at this point, my suggestion is using your notes as a guide to highlight the best aspects of it when taking the next steps, either putting a pitch page together, a treatment, or a presentation.

Stricter world building in the zombie plot would be helpful. For example, Dr. Soon immediately changes into a zombie, but others take longer to change from the same bites. Creating characters that intertwine with the romance but that are part of the zombie apocalypse might make a more cohesive story and generate strong emotional investment if both plots influence on another. Making the romance the main plot and the zombie apocalypse a subplot might also even out the tone and quicken the pacing.