REVIEW: ‘Alone’ Is A Horrifying and Relatable Experience

Alone is a horror film written by Matt Naylor and directed by Johnny Martin and has also been adapted into a South Korean film, Alive, based on Naylor’s script. It stars Tyler Posey, Summer Spiro, and Donald Sutherland. In Alone, Aidan (Posey) witnesses an outbreak of unknown origins. He sees people and neighbors attacking and killing one another through horrible violence and devouring one another. Aidan immediately barricades himself in his apartment and begins rationing his food. He constantly watches the news for information and desperately tries to get in contact with his family. Days go by and Aidan is alone in his apartment with the sounds of survivors running around the building only to meet a grisly fate. It comes to a point that Aidan has reached his limit and is ready to take his own life, that is until he sees Eva (Spiro) across the building complex, giving him hope that he isn’t the only survivor.

Alone’s story is a simple one that gets straight to the point. Despite the film’s villains in the form of zombies, this film attacks the viewer’s psyche of being alone and void of human contact. Posey does an amazing job of portraying this slow decline of becoming depressed, fits of anger due to being powerless in his situation, having high amounts of fear, and losing all hope. We see that hope rises when Aidan sets his eyes on Eva fueling the fight in him to survive. Aidan and Eva’s interactions from across the courtyard remind us why human contact is important, even if it’s just talking and how creating your own normalcy in dire situations can distract us.

In the middle of the film is when the action picks up and Aidan has to venture out of his apartment for food. Earlier in the film, we learn that the infected know what they are doing however, they cannot stop themselves thus the constant screaming. You constantly hear the infected scream things like, “Kill me”, or “Stop” and it makes you feel sad for these people that are still in this state. In zombie films, we see that the dead and infected are so far gone that there’s no feeling to be had for these mindless beings. That’s not the case here.

These zombies are extremely frightening being able to run and climb and incredible speeds. As Aidan maneuvers his way around his apartment complex, may it be in the vents or dodging infected in hallways, I was always at the edge of my seat because of how close Aidan was close to being injured. One bite or scratch and that’s it, your life is over and you become a ravenous being capable of hurting your loved ones. 

While we saw and learned very little of Eva, her role was played well as a companion. She was the catalyst for Aidan to care and hope again. Aidan had purpose again, to survive and take of himself and Eva. I did appreciate getting a peek at Eva’s psyche in one scene, where Aidan goes off to another apartment to get food. Eva was trying to hail Aidan on a walkie talkie and he was not answering. Because they had bonded over a period of time, Eva was rightfully worried. Despite living across the courtyard from one another, Eva stressed that they need to work as a unit and run things by one another. I could feel Eva’s stress and it brought up memories dealing with the current pandemic that we’re currently experiencing. While being only a supporting role for Posey’s character but only seeing very little of her, Spiro does a remarkable job of selling how she felt about being alone and coping.

Fans of survival horror and zombie horror will enjoy Alone and possibly relate to surviving and coping through a pandemic, despite zombies not existing. I would also go as far as to say that viewers may get fuel of hope, watching the interactions of Aidan and Eva and be reminded that they aren’t alone, even during the darkest of times.

Alone is available on-demand and in select theaters.