Zombucha

Move over Edgar Wright, there’s a new voice in prodigious sci-fi comedies, and her name is Emma Leonard, writer and star of Zombucha!. As the name suggests, it’s a combination of the drink and zombies, but this film packs way more punch than just a play on words. Its flavour profile is bold, refreshing, and bonkers.

Leonard plays Maddie, a makeup artist who, early on in the film, loses her job for upsetting a film star. Her husband, Leo (Ryan O’Kane), also loses his lucrative marketing job at the same time, and the couple experiences the immense pressure of a zero-dollar household, especially with their plans to have a baby looming over their heads. Through random acts of fate, they stumble upon a sentient scoby (I didn’t know much about Kombucha beforehand, so some of the references were lost on me, but I get this now), and this Mother allows them to crank out a particularly popular batch of Kombucha, which they dub Thirsty Virgin.

As with all successful startups, however, things get out of hand, and soon everyone is terrified, not least because this Scoby has plans of its own.

The bonkers storyline and characters feel like a fever dream at times, as if the writers were hopped up on fizzy drinks. But I was here for the chaos. Fans of films like Shaun of the Dead, Mars Attacks, and Batteries Not Included are likely to get a (health) kick out of this, and the incredible direction from Claudia Dzienny creates a palpably zany environment that will likely appeal to a more mainstream audience who are willing to try and keep up. Because the pace is frenetic!

And yet, whilst the events unfold at a million miles an hour and the script is packed full of jokes and gags, there is an emotional core between the characters of Maddie and Leo that provides the right amount of depth to prevent this movie from feeling flat. 

The trials and tribulations the pair face are not just effortlessly squashed in the name of comedy; instead, we get real pathos and emotional connection that make for a more rounded experience. The crux of the story is the pair’s anxiety about becoming parents, which has universal appeal. And if they can’t look after a Sentient Scoby, then what would they do with human children?

The camerawork is excellent, as is the sound design and score. Zombucha! feels more like a studio comedy than an indie feature, and when you are delivering lines as good as “Would you like some carrot? It’s like chocolate with less evil”, the audience needs that to land rather than being distracted by a misplaced boom mic, which it totally does here.

Building to a terrific finale (which I won’t spoil) and unlike any other comedy you will see for a while, these Aussie filmmakers have popped the lid on something special here. More please.