‘The only thing to hold onto in life is each other’
By Day’s End is a 2020 American horror film about a lesbian couple’s attempts to survive a pandemic and the ensuing zombie apocalypse.
Directed by Michael Souder (short: Hunger) from a screenplay co-written with Justin Calen-Chenn, the Hunger Films production stars Lyndsey Lantz (Lore), Andrea Nelson (I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu; Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival; Hallucinogen), Joshua Keller Katz and Maria Olsen (The Bone Box; Ashes; Ghost in the Graveyard; et al).
Plot:
Carly and Rina, a lesbian couple on the verge of breaking up, are down on their luck and forced to move into a motel. But mending their relationship is put on hold when a pandemic disease that causes insatiable hunger ravages the world around them.
Battling depression and a ravenous horde of flesh-eating zombies, they try to survive the apocalypse armed with only a video camera and a quickly dwindling supply of weapons. Love is never an easy road, and when they are forced to band together like never before, will it be enough to save them?
Reviews:
” …despite my issues with aspects of the story and how it is told, thanks to the leads, I was drawn into the story and the performances of Lantz and Nelson carry you through the film. By Day’s End is billed as a ‘Horror Romance.’ In truth, while as a horror it didn’t work for me, as a ‘drama romance’ it worked better.” The Grump of Horror
“The 74 minute runtime offers ideal pace to not linger in exposition, which some horror love stories tend to do, balancing the backstory and the instantaneous chaos into a smooth transition of events. The camera POV style renders the same objective with also a bit of tranquility that’s like a calm before the storm rather, as some ambience is muted by security cameras.” It’s Bloggin Evil!
“The zombie effects are very amateur and never once believable and the found footage conceit is not used to effect, seemingly a pointless hook with none of its attractions. I enjoy zombie movies. I enjoy virus outbreak movies. I enjoy lesbian characters in movies. And I love found footage horrors. But this just didn’t work.” The Movie Waffler
“There are not any surprises to be found here, and it would have been nice for more than one zombie to ever show up on screen at the same time, but this has a good choice of actors for the primary roles who gave a believability to their characters. This is certainly watchable, I just wish there had been more risks taken to make this be more memorable than I think it will be.” The Rotting Zombie
” …it’s really refreshing to see a genre entry that finds a different perspective for a change, like By Day’s End, where the zombies, though omni-present and the film’s driving force, become the backdrop of a relationship drama about love lost and found again, where interesting characters take center stage.” Search My Trash
Release:
Breaking Glass Pictures was released By Day’s End in the USA on March 17th 2020.
Cast and characters:
- Lyndsey Lantz … Carly Mayweather
- Andrea Nelson … Rina Schultz
- Joshua Keller Katz … Wyatt Fremont
- Bill Oberst Jr. … Doctor Harold Rittmeyer (voice)
- Maria Olsen … Ms Tibbs
- Devlin Wilder … Zach Carnigan
- Umberto Celisano … Miguel Menéz
- Diana Castrillon … Gloria Menéz
- Nadia Jordan … Joanna (voice)
- Janaki Tambe … Motel Guest
- Amber Nichelle … Clerk’s Girlfriend (as Amber Hawkins)
- Helen Audie … Maid
- Roy Ying … Motel Manager
- Kyle Nunn … Clerk
- Matthew Lee … Motel Guest
Filming locations:
Los Angeles, California
