Review by Karolina Gruschka
The Battery is an independent movie production written and directed by Jeremy Gardner, who also plays Ben, one of the protagonists. It is a story of two unlikely friends brought together by a zombie outbreak and about how they deal with each other and the situation they find themselves in.
Often understood as a term refering to the combined force of artillery on a battlefield, ‘the battery’ bears also a further meaning within the movie’s context. In baseball jargon it is employed to describe the relationship between pitcher and catcher, who in a joint effort become the primary attacking force against the opposing team. The main characters, Ben and Mickey are both baseball players who only know each other from the field; despite their clashing personalities they have to work together to face the walking dead (and living, who can be worse at times).
For a zombie movie, the undead hardly show themselves in The Battery. And when they do, they seem barely more life threatening than a bunch of rabid sloths. I sense that what we are dealing here with is not a horror film as such, but a drama set in a horror context. The viewer does not find out exactly when, where and why the zombie outbreak occurred, yet, this does not really matter, as the situation simply forms a backdrop for the relationship between Ben and Mickey and their ways of coping. It reminds me a little bit of Bear Grylls current survivalist series The Island, in which a group of ordinary men from different walks of life have to fend for themselves on a desert island. Returning back to the ‘simple life’ can bring out different colours and nuances in everyone and ultimately reveals who is a survivor. Ben and Mickey find themselves not on a desert island, but in a just as deserted post-apocalyptic North America.
Despite its zombie infestation and the prevailing paranoia between different groups of humans, this brave new world seems almost like a better place. Both stay away from the contaminated cities and roam the country like late 18th century romanticists, rediscovering the beautiful and sublime in nature. While Ben experiences wanderlust, Mickey dwells in nostalgia and a yearning for love. Ben has accepted reality and almost embraces their situation by trying to make the best out of it. In his energetic and hands on approach, he is the one who ‘hunts and gathers’, thinks realistically, makes decisions, is aware at all times and keeps spirits up for both. Mickey’s romantic nature, on the other hand, leads to depression, desperation, apathy and delusion. We mostly see him with his headphones on, listening to music (using an old school battery run portable cd player) in an attempt to avoid reality and in hope of all returning back to normal soon. Mickey even keeps a winning scratch card in his pocket, believing he might be able to cash in on the $1,000 in near future. After months of not coming across other human beings, the interception of a female voice on a radio transmission only fuels his nostalgia and ultimately leads to team Ben and Mickey’s downfall.
Mickey does rely on Ben a great deal (even when Ben is injured), but he plays not an entirely useless part in the battery. I believe that Ben needs somebody like Mickey – somebody to take care of – to give focus and meaning in a hopeles situation.
I first saw The Battery at The Abertoir Horror Film Festival 2013; I must admit that I was quite disappointed with the movie at first. I felt like it was a feature length The Walking Dead but with a much slower pace and hardly any action. There is a scene, for instance, where Ben and Mickey brush their teeth in real time. Even the climax of the movie seems to go on forever and is ‘shown’ from the perspective of a character who actually cannot see what is happening.
Maybe I just went in with the wrong expectations of seeing a zombie horror, maybe this film is not made for buzzing festival attendees. When I watched The Battery for the Second time – in the comfort of my own home – I enjoyed the movie for all the reasons I disliked it for at first. The long scenes of ‘nothingness’ set the serene atmosphere and highlight the desolation the two main characters find themselves in. I even found myself excusing the ending as an interesting attempt to show how the protagonist must have felt being left in the dark about whether he will escape his situation or not.
Considering that The Battery was shot in only two weeks and with a budget of a meager $6,000 I think the crew consisting only of a couple of friends, has done a brilliant job at creating a beautiful and intelligent picture. Viewers who are into their indie and folk rock will also thoroughly enjoy this work as music has a strong presence in The Battery.
The Battery is released to home entertainment in the UK on 21st July 2014, from Metrodome.