David Pierdomenico
Overlord seems, in many ways, like the types of exploitation film that was common back in the 1970’s. This was a subgenre filled with action, suspense, and a good measure of intentional camp that somehow came off as awesome. Following in the footsteps of these films, Overlord delivers an exciting adventure that’s brilliantly weird and unique!
A Different Kind of War Film
The film opens with the 101st Airborne Division parachuting down into occupied France. For those unfamiliar with the history, these soldiers were dropped onto the mainland the evening before D-Day to help disrupt Nazi defenses, as well as provide support for the invading forces Allied forces. We are introduced to a platoon of soldiers including Private Boyce (Jovan Adepo) and Corporal Ford (Wyatt Russell). Their mission is to infiltrate a small village to destroy a radio tower, which has been broadcasting information to the German soldiers.
After escaping the chaos of anti-aircraft gunfire, the few remaining soldiers encounter a French scavenger named Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier). Much like many of the French population, she despises the Nazis and is willing to help the American soldiers. Her village is the one with the tower they need to destroy, so she hides them in her house; all while avoiding the detection of Dr. Wafner (Pilou Asbæk), an SS officer and scientist involved in something sinister in this French village.
The soldiers soon discover that Wafner, and other Nazi scientists have been experimenting on the villagers in ways that are most unnatural. Their serum allows for people to be brought back from death, and to become impervious to bullets. At no point are they ever actually described as “zombies”, but they come pretty close in practice. In an interesting way, the film would have worked without the shift in tone, and that’s all part of its brilliance. Another famous example was 1996’s From Dusk Till Dawn. It started as a tense crime thriller and could have worked by just being that. Just like Overlord works in its first half as a compelling war film. The shift into horror territory is merely a bonus.
Inspired by True Events?
Anyone who’s studied the history of WWII will know that Nazi Germany funded a wide array of disturbing experiments. Overlord takes this historical premise and runs with it. It avoids going all out horror, or getting too cheesy, and this really serves the overall film. The soldiers still remember their mission, and dealing with this supernatural threat is just one of the obstacles they must overcome.
It’s difficult to properly categorize a film like Overlord. One could cite certain genres like war, horror, science fiction, action, thriller, and they would all be correct. It may start as a seemingly ordinary war film, but ends as anything but. It knows exactly what kind of film it wants to be, and pulls it off while having lots of fun!
