Cargo

A father comes to in his car, strapped into the seat next to him his wife has become infected but in the back seat his baby daughter is fine. With a zone nearby known to be safe from infection, the father sets out to ensure safety for his baby girl no matter what the cost.

As Theo has already said, the zombie horror genre is a pretty regular one in the genre of short films and, although I personally get scared quite easily by them, it is a genre that can easily feel tired and overused. It is to Cargo's credit then, that it creates something that works really well and doesn't rely on the usual jump scares or clichés of the genre. Here our setting is a zombie apocalypse but really the film is about love of a father for his child and this aspect is what keeps the interest and ultimately moves. The simple idea is delivered without any dialogue but yet the determination and the fact that the father never thinks of himself is really nicely shown.

If I had a complaint it would be that the music is a bit too obviously tragic and the final shots of sitting on the hill with the baby is a little corny, but the concept delivers the feels even if the specifics such as these are not what I would have liked. The genre is used to deliver something more than the norm and it is moving and memorable for what it does.

"Cargo" manages to deliver high production value, a 3 act script and great acting in less than 10 minutes. It's the epitome of a great short, and deserves all the accolades it received. A must watch for any short film fan.

With a solid opening(effective storytelling defined; aspiring filmmakers, take notes. Make a list of just how many things are communicated by the start of this, if you want protips), this brings us into the middle of a zombie apocalypse, with a man determined to save his infant. But there's one huge problem - he's already been bitten.

When there is no more room for new takes on this subgenre, the crap will overload it. And in that situation, maybe the best thing to do is to focus on the characters, and give the audience a small-scale, personal story. It has been said that the way to determine if a monster story is good or not, is whether the creature could be removed, or at the very least replaced, and there would still be something compelling there. This, like many classical tales, succeeds that test, where many fail.

The 6 and a half minute(without credits, 7 with) running time flies by. If anything, it starts out on a high note, and only gains in traction. It gets increasingly devastating as it goes. While you won't realize immediately "what is going on"(what the man is actually doing and why), once you do, it's a fantastic idea, and you cheer in an earnest way that few current productions inspire. Production values are excellent, everything feels real, the Romero-esque setting is entirely credible.

There is constant disturbing content and a little bloody, brutal violence in this. I recommend this to everyone who likes undead horror. 8/10

A man awakens from a car crash to find that his wife has become a zombie . Exiting the car he rescues his baby daughter from the backseat then realises he has a bite mark which will almost certainly convert him in to being a zombie

Yet another film featuring a zombie apocalypse . You can understand why film makers keep visiting this sub genre of horror because it's relatively easy to stick a few extras on location with some make up and that's all you basically need . Like so many zombie shorts you feel you're watching a segment of a much longer feature and CARGO is no different . What this short does very well is bring a human element to the narrative . We know that the father has been bitten , that he has a baby to protect and our fears are for that baby should the father become one of the infected/undead . It possibly won't have a market outside the hard core horror market but it's nice to see a horror short that reflects upon the human element of a story

I have watched this countless times and honestly, I cannot even begin to describe when I start seeing the little nuances in this short film. However short it is, the plot is tight and it effectively encapsulates the story from past to present and future.

I am not one who likes horror but even as I cringe from the first 2 minutes (maybe first minute or less), the film just gets better. Definitely right up my alley than crap with poor plots and cheap scares.

Unless if you are a film critic, and even by that standards it is pretty good, you may (probably) be like me and repeat-watch this for the little actions that the father do and trust me, your gut just gets punched more.