Writer and Director Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken (An Affair 2018, Munch 2023) gives audiences a sneak peek into the trials and tribulations of making a film in Project Z (Prosjekt
Z). As if filmmaking was not already testing enough, what with egos to handle, budgetary concerns and technical mishaps along the way, the crew soon finds themselves with an even bigger problem.
Released through Dark Star Pictures, and released in select theaters November 3, 2023 (as well as On Demand and Digital), Project Z follows a group of film students who have decided to make a zombie movie entitled The Dead Awakens (De Dode Vakner). That in mind… so far filming has not been going that well. Director Julie (Eili Harboe: The Wave 2015, Thelma 2017) is taking the film far too seriously, her cinematographer boyfriend Felix (Vebjorn Enger: The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King, Battle 2018) is being overly friendly with one of the actresses and their (past his) prime star Dennis (Dennis Storhoi: The 13th Warrior 1999, Troll 2022) feels that he is above everyone else on the production.
They are on their way to shoot on location in the mountains when the radio informs them that there is going to be a huge meteor shower, and no sooner do they hear that then a meteorite hurtles into the car in front of them. This is just a prelude to what is coming though and later a much larger meteorite lands near the site where they are filming. This is not any ordinary meteorite though and soon the filmmakers find themselves being possessed by alien creatures which turns them into zombie-like monsters.
Overall, Project Z is an interesting hybrid of a film. Essentially it is a film about making a film, which then later adds a Horror/Sci-Fi element. It also uses a mix of standard photography and found footage as well as footage from the film within the film. The action switches between all three of these elements and at times it does become disorientating.
It is not exactly that Project Z feels like three separate entities, however the frequent transitioning between the three means that it is hard to become fully engaged in any of them. It also means that inevitably the audience will enjoy one element more than the others. For example, the footage from The Dead Awakens, which is the film that the students are making, is scarier than the film itself. In that way, fans of Horror may be frustrated when the action then switches to the found footage which sees characters filming for social media and playing up to the camera.
That being said, Project Z does offer a fun look at indie filmmaking. Anyone who has experience of that type of filmmaking will find a lot to laugh about and relate to, and for everyone else then it is a great insight into the filmmaking process. Project Z itself never suffers from its own indie roots and the performances and visuals are superior to a lot of similar films. There are several really great scenes that make this appealing for fans of the genre, but it is best to approach this film as a meta film about filmmaking rather than a zombie movie. That is why Cryptic Rock gives Project Z 3 out of 5 stars.
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