You’ve heard of World War Z, Train to Busan, and Warm Bodies and have probably seen them all, too, but you may have overlooked this underrated 2010s zombie movie now on Netflix. The streaming giant has been growing its content offerings all month long, adding everything from Independence Day to all five seasons of Search Party, and the streamer just took a bite out of the zombie genre with the arrival of a hidden gem.
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Jeff Baena’s 2014 zombie comedy Life After Beth is now streaming on Netflix. The Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser, Matthew Gray Gubler, and John C. Reilly-starring film joined the streamer on February 19th. The unconventional zombie movie centers around Zach, who is left devastated by the mysterious death of his girlfriend. When he visits her grave only to discover it empty and later finds that she has returned from the dead, his joy and relief quickly turn to horror as she slowly undergoes a horrible transformation into a flesh-eating zombie.
Life After Beth Is a Hilariously Poignant Zom-Rom-Com You Need To See
Life After Beth’s 46% critic score and even lower 31% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t put much faith in the film, but the movie really is one of the ones that is better than its initial mediocre reception. Life After Beth doesn’t reach the same heights as other zombie movies of the era, but it’s still worth a watch. The movie is a charming, quirky, and surprisingly moving take on a genre that typically relies on high-octane gore, fast-paced action, and relentless horror and excels because it treats that standard zombie apocalypse scenario as a metaphor for the devastation of grief, relationship anxieties, and the struggle to let go.
Life After Beth is a perfect mix of funny and sad, swapping the typical high-energy, jump-scare-filled horror of zombie movies for a slow-burn melancholic take that uses its supernatural premise to explore how a relationship can become toxic, even after death. The movie’s humor stems from the surreal and uncomfortable situations from its quirky plot, such as Beth’s addiction to smooth jazz to soothe her violent mood swings and her parents’ delusional denial of their daughter’s undead state. The character-driven odd duck zombie flick also features some pretty great performances, particularly from Plaza, who transitions from a normal 20-something to a needy, moody, and destructive zombie.
What’s New on Netflix?
Life After Beth started streaming on Netflix on February 19th alongside The Iron Claw and Wakefield and following a wave of arrivals earlier in the month. Subscribers browsing the Netflix streaming catalog can now also press play on movies like Ex Machina, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, You’ve Got Mail, and Zero Dark Thirty. Netflix also added some great family-friendly streaming options in February, such as the first two animated How to Train Your Dragon movies and the 2025 live-action remake, as well as the original Night at the Museum trilogy.
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