Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Lily James) | Anatomy of a Movie

Hosts Marisa Serafini (@SerafiniTV), Sean Overman (@SeanAustinO), Demetri Panos (@DMovies1701), and Phil Svitek (@PDSvitek) discuss the 2016 Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (stylized as Pride + Prejudice + Zombies) is a 2016 American comedy horror film based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Seth Grahame-Smith that parodies the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice byJane Austen. The film is directed by Burr Steers, who wrote the adapted screenplay, and stars Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance and Lena Headey. In 19th century England, Colonel Darcy (Sam Riley) travels to the home of a wealthy family to investigate rumors of a newly infected zombie. He arrives at the home and sits with the family before taking out a small vial containing carrion flies as a means to detect the undead (as they are attracted to dead flesh). The flies land on the house’s patriarch, whose eyes turn red. Darcy breaks a glass and stabs the man in the throat before decapitating him. One of the young girls in the house retreats upstairs to check on the niece of the recently dispatched zombie. She discovers the niece devouring a servant; the niece then proceeds to attack her, and then they both kill everyone in the house. The Bennet sisters – Elizabeth (Lily James), Jane (Bella Heathcote), Kitty (Suki Waterhouse), Lydia (Ellie Bamber), and Mary (Millie Brady) – have all been sent to China by their father to learn in the art of weaponry and martial arts. Mrs. Bennet (Sally Phillips) wants her daughters to be married off to wealthy suitors. As it turns out, the Bingley family has moved in nearby and are throwing a ball, wherein Mrs. Bennet hopes that the young and handsome Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) will win over one of her girls. Elizabeth, on the other hand, doesn’t want to seek a husband. The Bennets attend the ball. Bingley instantly sets his eyes on Jane. Darcy is in attendance and takes notice of Elizabeth, but he makes comments that she is unappealing, which Elizabeth overhears. She walks outside tearfully and encounters Mrs. Featherstone (Hermione Corfield), now a zombie. Mrs. Featherstone converses with Elizabeth, before she is killed by Darcy. A horde of zombies then attack the party, prompting the Bennet sisters to spring into action. As they slay every zombie in their path, Darcy instantly becomes smitten with Elizabeth when he witnesses her in combat. The Bingley sisters invite Jane over for tea at Netherfield. Mrs. Bennett forces her to go on horseback, thinking she will be invited to stay overnight due the oncoming rainstorm. While on the ride, Jane encounters a zombie and fires her gun. The gun backfires leaving a bite-like wound on her hand. She kills it but then spots a zombie woman with her child. Jane hesitates and is attacked by the zombie. At Netherfield, Darcy orders her confined to her room, in fear that she may have been bitten. Elizabeth arrives at the home to care for Jane. While in Jane’s room, Darcy releases his flies to detect a zombie, but Elizabeth catches each fly with her hand and returns them to Darcy. After Jane recovers, the sisters attend another ball thrown by the Bingleys. There, Elizabeth meets a soldier named Mr. Wickham (Jack Huston), who seems to be charming and polite. He tells Elizabeth that he has had a history with Darcy and does not wish to further challenge him. Another group of zombies attack the party, resulting in Bingley injuring himself, and Darcy joining Elizabeth in fighting the horde. The Bennets are visited by Parson Collins (Matt Smith), who intends to marry one of the sisters. He initially sets his eyes on Jane, though he is told that she is with Bingley. He later tries to seduce Elizabeth, and proposes to her, but states that she must give up her life as a warrior, something that she adamantly refuses to do. Mr. Collins later decides to settle with Elizabeth’s friend Charlotte (Aisling Loftus). Elizabeth travels with Wickham to the In-Between (an area outside of walled-in London but inside a royal moat) to a church where some zombies live and worship, while feeding on pig brains to keep them from going completely savage, which would occur if they ate human brains. Wickham wants Elizabeth to join him in helping the zombies. He also suggests that she run away with him, but she remains conflicted. Elizabeth and Wickham then meet with Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lena Headey), a notorious zombie killer with major authority and wealth, to try and persuade her to come to peace with the more “civilized” zombies who do not eat human brains. Darcy and his aunt blatantly refuse. When she arrives home, Elizabeth is told that Darcy has convinced the Bingleys to move away. When Darcy approaches Elizabeth with a proposal of his own, she expresses her outrage at his actions and fights him in a duel. Elizabeth gets the upper hand, and Darcy leaves. Darcy writes Elizabeth a letter to apologize for his actions and to state that he separated Jane and Bingley for fear that Jane only wanted to marry Bingley for his wealth, having overheard Mrs. Bennet drunkenly mention it. Darcy also mentions that Wickham had tried to elope with Darcy’s fifteen-year-old sister for her fortune. Darcy’s letter states that he is battling zombies in London, and that they have overrun the walled city. Elizabeth is then cornered by Lady Catherine and her bodyguard Wilhelm (Ryan Oliva). Catherine knows that Elizabeth and Darcy have developed an attraction toward one another, yet she still wants Darcy to marry her sickly daughter, Anne. Wilhelm attacks Elizabeth, but she claws his face and fights him off, causing him to get crushed under a pile of bricks. Catherine decides to protect Elizabeth’s family and takes them to her estate. Wickham ran off with Elizabeth’s youngest sister, and she must go rescue her. Elizabeth joins Darcy in London and helps him battle the undead. Darcy encounters Wickham at the old church and rescues Elizabeth’s sister. While fighting Wickham, he impales him and reveals a bite mark on his chest, revealing Wickham was undead all along. Before Wickham can kill Darcy, Elizabeth rides in and chops his arm off and knocks him unconscious. Darcy rides with Elizabeth across the bridge as the army destroys the last remaining bridge to keep the zombies trapped within the In-between on the inside of the moat. Darcy is injured in the explosion and is rendered unconscious. Elizabeth tearfully admits her love for him. After Darcy recovers, he finds Elizabeth and tells her that he heard what she said on the bridge. They share their first kiss and agree to marry. The two have a joint wedding with Bingley and Jane, officiated by Parson Collins. In a post-credits scene, the now one-armed Wickham is leading the zombies toward them, ready for war.

To download the Pride+Prejudice+Zombies rundown as well as pictures used during the show, click here and unzip the file: http://audio.afterbuzztv.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MTN/PPZ.zip