Zombies Vs. Idiots

***Zombies Vs Idiots*** is a 2028 American supernatural science fiction zombie comedy film directed by Ricardo Gonzales Silva and written by Nicolas AVO and Edward Rodriguez (in their feature writing debut) In the film, Eli Miller and Dylan Denbrough start a business dedicated to trapping and keeping zombies after a secret government lab opened up a portal to a world entirely inhabited by zombies. In order to save their small town, the duo uses the business in order to manage the zombie plague that their town was about to suffer.

Based on his own, fascination with the undead, AVO conceived the film as a project starring himself and his friend, Edward Rodriguez, in which they began a zombie apocalypse by accident and attempt to revert it. Following his first viewing of *Stranger Things* (2016-2025), AVO deemed his concept financially impractical and scrapped his original idea. Seeing as how Hollywood was becoming less supportive of original ideas and aimed for more sequels, reboots and remakes, AVO saw *Zombies Vs. Idiots* as the perfect opportunity to "provide some fresh air in the industry." AVO and Rodriguez pitched their idea to president Sanford Panitch who found the concept funny and offered the duo full creative liberty in exchange for a November 2028 release date. Filming occurred between February and March of 2028.

The film uses entirely practical effects such as a hand drawn lightning bolt for the climactic thunderstorm sequence, fiber fill suspended on a net illuminated by a light to simulate the thunder clouds, as well as the superimposed text being done using optical printing. The film released on November 3, 2028, to positive critical reception. It was a box-office success, grossing $381.1 Million on a $30 Million budget. It was praised for its blend of comedy, action and horror, as well as the awkward performances of AVO and Rodriguez. The 1980s setting was also praised.

## Plot

In March of 1983, in a small town named Douglas in the state of Oklahoma, a secret government laboratory performs an experiment with a device named the Portal Nexus Device. The project is led by Donald Rosenberg, but after overcharging the device with energy, he permanently creates a rift between Earth and an alternate dimension entirely populated by zombies. He urgently shuts down the lab in order to contain the zombies.

The next day, a young, nerdy teenager named Eli Miller is late for school after staying up late on a school night. He wakes up his close friend Dylan Denbrough and they both rush to arrive on time. Eli dislikes school because of the bullying he gets due to his interests, however, Dylan and their two other friends, Taylor and Mike comfort him, and even considering his tastes as awesome. Later that night, the group plays a campaign of Dungeons & Dragons, but after ordering a pizza, one of the zombies breaks out of the lab and stumbles across Eli's house. After Eli returns from buying a pizza, a crash from the backyard grabs his attention and spots the zombie. The next day, Maddy Walsh, the prettiest girl in Eli's school returns from a visit of a friend's house and encounters a zombie in her kitchen. She shrieks and dashes out. Later that day, Eli and Dylan get together at a park to shotgun cans of Coca-Cola, and Eli discusses his idea of catching zombies as a business, likening it to getting cockroaches removed in order to prevent them from spreading out into the rest of the country. Despite Dylan's initial objections, he leaves the final word to his Magic 8 Ball, and after being responded with an affirmative statement, Dylan agrees to starting the business.

A few days later, Eli uses his garage as the main headquarters for his business. Despite Dylan having certain knowledge on driving, he's still reluctant about using his dad's car, and they later get a commercial for their business on TV. Maddy visits Eli's house after seeing their commercial on air. Eli, infatuated, is quick to assisting her issue. Maddy takes Eli to her home to investigate, but realizes that the zombie has long since left, and Eli unsuccessfully attempts to invite her to the movies. The Zombie Exterminators are hired to remove a fat zombie from their middle school. Having failed to properly test their equipment, Eli and Dylan are wary of their makeshift net, but despite trouble, they successfully catch the zombie. In order to contain the undead, Eli chooses the warehouse his father left to his mother after they divorced to contain them. Undead activity in the town increases rapidly and the Zombie Hunters become famous; they hire Mike and Taylor to cope with the growing demand. And hire Steve Thomas, Dylan's cousin and pothead to help with driving.

Later that night, a zombie, named Dextroski, who is revealed to be able to speak as a human, escapes his world through the rift created by the lab. He turns out to be highly intelligent, and can speak to zombies perfectly, rallying them up to create a clan, and after being revealed that the Zombie Hunters had been slowing them down, he chooses to kidnap Maddy, who has formed a friendship with Eli in order to lure the Zombie Hunters into their headquarters and that way, kill them before sacrificing Mandy, as part of Dextroski's plan to rule the world. After the Zombie Hunters find out what happened to Maddy through a police report, Eli drives out into the Douglas National Lab to see if it had anything to do with the undead activity. After stumbling across Rosenberg and being told what happened through a series of threats, Eli demands for the Nexus Device to be fixed to prevent any more zombies from entering their world.

The next day, the group searches for the zombie headquarters together with Rosenberg. However, Eli is stricken with an idea, he asks Rosenberg if there is a chance of a thunderstorm that very day. Rosenberg reveals that they have a specialized weather sensing equipment that can predict when and where a lightning bolt might hit, and after the device predicts a lightning bolt will strike on one of the lampposts in Eli's neighborhood park at 2:51 AM, the group formulates a plan to kill all the zombies. During that same night, the thunderstorm starts to form, the group takes the initiative and prepare for the lightning bolt, connecting industrial wires to a firework pit, intended to be lit up so that the zombies are killed in the process. Eli drives across the street, firing a submachine gun to draw the zombies' attention and in the process, find out where Mandy is. The lightning strikes, killing all the zombies and freeing Mandy in the process. The next day, the Zombie Hunters are hailed as heroes, finally earning Eli the respect and admiration he desired.

## Cast

* Nicolas AVO as Eli Miller
* Edward Rodriguez as Dylan Denbrough
* Darby Camp as Taylor Austin
* Noah Schnapp as Mike Cohen
* Mackenzie Foy as Maddy Walsh
* Joe Keery as Steve Thomas
* Sean Astin as Donald Rosenberg
* Winona Ryder as Carole Miller
* Jamie Campbell Bower as Dextroski

## Production

### Development

*Zombies Vs. Idiots* was inspired by Nicolas AVO's own fascination with the undead, an interest he developed from watching *Zombieland* (2009) in 2022. He also read many articles that theorized the existence of zombies. He was disappointed with how the zombie sub-genre lacked any new ways of seeing zombies. His main inspiration for his idea was *Zombieland*. He developed the idea alone in his room. The first concept for the film involved a plot about two high school teenagers named Eli and Dylan who were looking for a summer job, and after getting hired at a private science institute, they accidentally release a dangerous infection that poisoned everyone inside, creating zombie outbreak; the two try to work their way to reverse the apocalypse. AVO presented his idea to his friend Edward Rodriguez, who found the concept funny, but was too busy to write the script with him.

AVO wrote the script, intending to star alongside his fellow middle school friend and *Comedy Garbage* co-writer Rodriguez before the latter's ultimate graduation from middle school in 2023. He recalled writing one of Rodriguez' lines before he called to inform him of his graduation. Despite this, Rodriguez kept working with AVO on separate times to discuss his potential role as Dylan. Rodriguez agreed to join without any major agreement. The two later realized that their concept did little to advance the genre, and ended up scrapping the idea after deeming it "impossible to pitch". After watching *Stranger Things* (2016-2025), AVO reconsidered the story, and decided to re-write the script as a homage to 1980s comedy and horror films such as *Friday the 13th* (1980), *Ghostbusters* (1984), *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial* (1982), *Back to the Future* (1985), and *The Goonies* (1985). He created an entirely new storyline that involved the same main characters, Eli and Dylan, starting a zombie hunting business, likening it to getting roaches removed. AVO felt that it "would have cost something like $100 Million to make". AVO's original 70- to 80-page script treatement for the previous storyline was more action-driven in tone and intended to be intense, violent and gory.

Due to their young age, AVO and Rodriguez waited three years to be both 18 and 19 to pitch the script to potential buyers, by this time, the duo was in college. In March of 2027, AVO met with Ricardo Gonzalez Silva in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles to discuss the script. Gonzalez felt attracted to the idea after finding out that his attorney was AVO's mother, and through her, Gonzalez found out that AVO was writing his own screenplay. He suggested that setting it in 1983 would make the story more nostalgic and lighthearted, and that setting it in a fictional town would make the story more fresh. He met up with Rodriguez in order to provide input on the script. He encouraged the two to play the main characters, as he saw their dynamic extremely similar to Eli and Dylan's dynamic. After thinking about it, AVO and Rodriguez auto-casted themselves as Eli and Dylan respectively.

Although the script required considerable changes, Gonzalez pitched the film to Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch in October with the script, a pitch bible, and a seven-minute short that AVO and Rodriguez had created three years earlier. Panitch found the concept funny but was unsure of the budget, as the film was significantly expensive due to its special effects and visual style, and offered the trio a $30 Million budget and full creative liberty in exchange for a November 2028 release date, a deal was settled and Panitch promised to market the film as much as possible to ensure it succeeded, which seemed "reasonable". This left 13 months to complete the film, with no cast, effects studio or shooting start date. AVO and Rodriguez took the roles of producers. Sony Pictures' CEO Tony Vinciquerra approached Panitch to advice him not to pursue the film, with his reason being it was being presented by teenagers, Panitch disagreed, arguing that "everyone can write a movie script." Vinciquerra returned to the head office to report that Panitch was "out of control".

Initial titles for the film were "Zombie Hunters", which was based on how the two main characters were hunting zombies as a business, but AVO saw it too similar to *Ghostbusters*. Several other titles were considered, including "Zombie Stoppers", "Zombie Killers", and "Zombie Smashers", but remained with "Zombies Vs. Idiots, since AVO thought the title would "let audiences know that this is a funny movie, not a scary movie".

### Writing

AVO, Rodriguez and Gonzales began re-working the script for one more draft. First at Panitch's office, then traveling to Toronto, Canada. AVO had a home there, and they worked day and night in his basement for about two weeks. AVO was willing to re-write his script. He considered himself a "kitchen sink" writer who created the funny situations and undead jargon, while Rodriguez refined the jokes and dialogue. They wrote separately, then re-wrote each other's drafts. Many scenes had to be cut, including a scene where Dextroski, the film's villain, briefly grabbed Maddy Walsh, Eli's crush, by the neck, threatening the zombie hunters with shooting her if they took one step forward, before being shot in the head by Steve Thomas, the zombie hunter's driver. The draft was finished when they left Toronto in mid-December 2027, and a fifth and final draft was completed by early January. AVO met with Noah Schnapp, who after hearing about Columbia's announcement of an upcoming zombie film, contacted AVO, asking him for the role of Mike Cohen, and after reading the script, he provided major input on his character, suggesting that Mike was the bombastic and sardonic extrovert of the friend group, having heard Schnapp's stories of being a prankster on the set of *Stranger Things*, AVO casted Schnapp as Mike. Despite his age, AVO said that his "generally youthful looks of a teen" compensated for Schnapp being over 20.

It was decided early on that Eli was the brains and heart of the Zombie Hunters, and Dylan's the mouth. AVO drew inspiration from fiction archetypes. "Put Eli and Dylan together, and you have Seth and Evan from *Superbad*". Though he briefly considered the Zombie Hunters to have a boss and to be directed into situations, he preferred they be in control "of their own destinies" and make their own choices. This led to the development for more distinct identities for each one of the main characters, Eli as the sweet, kind, brilliant kid, Dylan as the honest, enthusiastic extrovert, Mike as the bombastic and outgoing jokester, Taylor as the quiet yet secretly beautiful girl, and Steve as the laidback, friendly pothead.

For the adult characters, AVO created Carole Miller, Eli's young, financially struggling mother: "Carole went through a lot during and after her divorce, her husband was a cheating bastard and a rude, inconsiderate jerk who didn't care for his son. However, she remained loving and caring towards Eli, proving that a mother's love is everything for a kid. This gave Eli a motivation to start the zombie hunting business, since he wants her mother to be able to sleep at night, instead of staying up and trying to find a way to keep a roof over their heads". Donald Rosenberg, the Director of Operations at the Douglas National Laboratory, was inspired by Egon Spengler as the factual, stoic and awkward intellectual.

### Cast and Characters

Sean Astin was considered for the role of Rosenberg, since he thought his character as Bob Newby in *Stranger Things* as a fellow nerd was "perfect" for Rosenberg. He contacted Astin, offering him $375,000 dollars for the role, despite Astin's generally friendly nature in real life, Astin promised AVO that it could be possible to be a stoic scientist. Jesse Eisenberg, Paul Rudd, Jonathan Lipnicki, Tom Hanks, Steve Guttenberg, David Moscow, Rick Moranis, and Andrew Garfield were also considered for the role. Eli's appearance was inspired by AVO's combination between Mike Wheeler from *Stranger Things 1* and McLoving from *Superbad*, conceiving a character with long moppy hair, glasses and social awkwardness. He took the character's first name from a cousin-in-law he rarely saw, and the surname from a second-grade-classmate. Apart from his self-casting, AVO was largely responsible for casting the roles.

Darby Camp auditioned five times for the role of Taylor Austin. According to her, the draft given to her put Taylor as a quiet, supportive friend and the pretty receptionist of the Zombie Hunter's office. Excited by the part, she accepted the job for about half her usual salary. She offered input on her character suggesting to AVO that she should be in more scenes where the group "could be teenagers", leading to the creation of the Summer Prom at Douglas Middle School and the Uptown Mall sequence where Eli asks Maddy out, followed by the group having a shopping spree in order to showcase their bond. It was her suggestion that Taylor and Dylan hooked up by the end of the film.

Cara Buono and Natalia Dyer auditioned for the role of Carole Miler, but Winona Ryder attracted the filmmaker's attention. During her first audition, AVO saw her as the appropriate pick for Carole, as how she portrayed Joyce Byers in *Stranger Things*. It was her suggestion that Eli confessed to Carole his dangerous plan for the climactic thunderstorm and to say goodbye in order to showcase the strong bond between the two. AVO worked with Ryder in order to give Carole a financially underwhelming job in order to give Eli a personal stake to start the business. Ryder changed Carole's occupation from a janitor to an assistant to the local newspaper, saying that Carole can't have that much of a terrible job.

Millie Bobby Brown was offered the role of Maddy. She told AVO that her age and her voice would be difficult to perceive as a teenager and suggested portraying Maddy as Eli's older sister that had a crush on Steve, but AVO felt that Carole taking care of two kids would take a toll on her. Brown after reading the script, chose not to pursue the role as Maddy and Eli kissed by the end of the film since AVO was in a relationship. Brown politely turned down the role. After AVO watched *Interstellar* (2014), he contacted Mackenzie Foy and sent her a script. She accepted the role an hour later. Foy developed many aspects of her character, such as her being the popular girl in school and living in a privileged home.

Jamie Campbell Bower was chosen for the role of Dextroski after he had appeared on *Witchboard* (2024). Dextroski was described as a zombified Vecna and the Grand Wizard of a Ku Klux Klan in Zombie Hell. Though he found his character's demise underwhelming, AVO promised to Bower that if any sequel were to happen, he would find a way to put Dextroski in the story.

### Fi**lming**

Principal photography began in Shawnee, Oklahoma on March 16, 2028. The film was shot under the name of *Meet The Kids* (which AVO described as the most generic title possible) in order for no one to discover and plagiarize the plot. The actors had to read the script behind closed doors, and everyone on set had to wear an ID card. The film was shot in rough chronological order, except for the climactic thunderstorm scene, which was shot first in order for the most difficult scene to be behind them, which instead of being shot at Shawnee, was shot at AVO's hometown in Tijuana. Gonzalez was conscious they had to complete the Shawnee phase before they encountered inhospitable April weather and the yearly Tornado season. Due to it's yearly weather, many people saw Oklahoma as synonymous with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, and many films that took place in the South were usually filmed in Georgia. As Gonzales found AVO and Rodriguez "rather humor-driven", he encouraged improvisation, adapting multiple takes and keeping the cast creations that worked, but directing them back to the script.

Some guerrilla filmmaking took place, including one shot outside the real city hall where Steve bribed a real police officer with a weed joint after he attempted to give them a ticket. The Mayor that appeared outside the city hall when the zombie hunters came to his aid in the mid-film montage, that was the real Mayor of Shawnee at the time. The Zombie Van used as the zombie hunter's mode of transport was a black Chevrolet G20 van found in the street for sale, where Columbia Pictures payed $5,400 for the van itself and another $570 dollars for the logos to be sprayed on the sides.

Due to the small budget, the initial suggestion for a building to be constructed for the Douglas National Laboratory was discarded. Instead, the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee served as the exterior setting for the Laboratory. For the test chamber at the lab, the production crew utilized the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. NASA was initially reluctant to allow filming at the Mission Control Center, but AVO argued that the test chamber appeared in just a few scenes and that filming would wrap quickly. Filming in the space center was only allowed on Sundays early at night and had to conclude by 9:00 PM. When asked why production wasn't shooting in Georgia instead, AVO responded by saying that he wanted the film to be as authentic as possible. Filming in Shawnee had concluded by April and moved to Los Angeles. Most of the mid-film montage was shot in Los Angeles.

Other locations included Shawnee City Hall, the Culver City Middle School for the Douglas Middle School, the agricultural area around Oklahoma City, and the suburban areas in the San Fernando Valley for Eli and Dylan's local neighborhood. The Central Valley in southern California served as the setting for Eli's chase with the zombies, and the cloudy weather in the scene wasn't in the script; it was just the weather for the only day they had available to shoot the scene. The interior scenes of Eli's house were shot at AVO's actual house, where the outside neighborhood was later green-screened in post.

When filming moved to Los Angeles, there was a two week break for Nicolas AVO and Edward Rodriguez to spend time with their families, it then resumed after Easter and right before Earth Day. Due to the film's use of practical effects, skilled technicians were needed who resided mainly in the city and soundstages that were non-existent in Los Angeles. Despite it's setting, 55% of *Zombies Vs. Idiots* was filmed on location is Los Angeles or on sets at Burbank Studios. Location scouts searched for buildings that could replicate the interiors of buildings being filmed in Shawnee. AVO initially hoped to use a separate garage for the zombie hunter headquarters, he instead used his own house's garage as both the workshop and the headquarters. For Maddy's house, the film was shot in his father's apartment in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.

The Prom Scene had real students from Culver Middle School move out onto the dance floor, where a lot of teens got into a relationship, and many of them thanked AVO for filming in the gymnasium and triggering their relationship. One day before shooting wrapped, the cast and crew organized a party inside the Grauman's Egyptian Theater, where AVO and Rodriguez thanked the crew for their work on the film. Principal photography concluded on June 26, 2028 after 103 days of filming. The final day of filming included pick-up shots of Steve in the Zombie Van.

### Post-Production

Despite Paul Amundson serving as the main film editor of *Zombies Vs. Idiots*, he became special effects supervisor and sound editor. The short production schedule and looming release date caused AVO to bring Amundson on set to edit the film as soon as the footage was exported to his computer. Gonzales sometimes found the rushed production overwhelming and in-between takes, he would sit down with AVO to explain his concerns over the production.

A rough version of the film was cut together for a test screening at Regency Village Theater at Westwood Village, California in mid-July 2028, just three weeks after filming had concluded. The audiences were seemingly uninterested during the first fourteen minutes of the film, but became engaged after the first call and were clapping constantly during the climactic thunderstorm sequence. At a test screening in Long Beach, California in October 11, 2028, 92% of the audiences responded they would recommend the film; 97% rated it very good or great. The film was re-cut and screened again at Panitch's office for executives. After watching the film, Tony Vinciquerra regretted doubting the film, claiming that he loved it. Panitch was so impressed he moved the scheduled release date forward to November 3, 2028 instead of November 24 to give it more time in theaters during the peak fall season. The new date slashed the already short time remaining for post-production from six weeks to three weeks for special effects and editing. By this time, the culminating explosion sequence had been half-finished, but Amundson rushed through the editing to finish the scene and implement it into the film.

A deleted scene involved a scene where Eli got ready to ask Maddy out to prom where he overthought the results of the situation if it hypothetically failed. The scene was intended to introduce a major flaw in Eli's personality: a tendency to overthink situations. However, Gonzales believed it was extraneous to the fast-moving plot. So AVO re-shot the scene in one day with altered dialogue and clothings to match those Eli wore in the summer prom as a "precursor". Amundson considered the film's pace to be extremely fast despite it's near-two hour runtime. The final 116-minute cut was completed on October 24, 2028, just ten days before it's release in theaters. Columbia Pictures took out a full-page advertisement on a *Variety* magazine, thanking the post-production team for finishing their work on time.

### Music

The *Zombies Vs. Idiots* score was composed by Alan Silvestri and performed by the 72-person Hollywood Studio Symphony orchestra at The Village in the city of West Los Angeles. It was orchestrated by David Spear and Elmer Bernstein's son Peter. Silvestri was AVO's first choice for a composer as the score Silvestri had composed in *Back to the Future* had the same tone and instruments AVO wanted to be used for the score on *Zombies Vs. Idiots*.

After Columbia's announcement of the film, AVO approached Silvestri for him to compose the score. Gonzales wanted the score to be grounded and relatively realistic. He also wanted no music during comedic moments. He also used Yamaha DX7 synthesizers for the emotional or serious moments in the film. In a 2029 interview, Silvestri described *Zombie Hunters* as the most difficult score he had written, finding it challenging to balance the varying comedic and serious tones. AVO and American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift met in Hollywood, where he asked her if he could use her romance song Lover in-between the end of the film and the credits, offering her $170,000 dollars for her permission, Swift agreed and offered to market, promote and attend the premiere of the film with no cost as a favor to AVO, who agreed. AVO later invited a cousin - a Taylor Swift fan - to the premiere, claiming that there was a huge surprise for her at the event.

Berlin's song Take My Breath Away was used for the moment all the students moved onto the dance floor. The rights to the song were purchased for $160,000 dollars because he felt the romantic tone of the song fit the themes of the prom. The score and songs were completed and implemented into the film on October 20, 2028, AVO livestreamed the completion of the score through Instagram, thanking Bernstein, Berlin and Swift for their work on the film.

## Release

### Box office

The film premiered on November 2, 2028 at the the Avco Cinema in Westwood, Los Angeles with the cast, Taylor Swift and the crew in attendance before its wide release the following day across 1,339 theaters in the United States (U.S.) and Canada. During its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $27.2 million-an average of $20,080 per theater against estimates of $20-25 million. It finished as the number one film of the weekend, ahead of *The Super Mario Bros. Movie 3*, ($26.2 million). The film remained a steady success, grossing $144.8 million by December 1, $167.5 million by January 3, $201.2 million by February 7, $246.3 million by March, and $381.1 million by April.

The film made enough money in it's opening weekend to provide profits for both Sony and Sky Theory Studios. The film was released in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Spain. The film closed on April 5th, 2029 and made $142.1 Million in the US and Canada, and $239 Million in other territories for a total of $381.1 Million at the box office and became the second highest grossing film of 2028.

## Reception

### Critical Response

*Zombies Vs. Idiots* received largely positive reviews from critics. David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a 7.5 out of 10, citing it as an innovative rare example of an original idea receiving major support from audiences, and also being a film that earned its success. He praised the film's special effects meant to look vintage. He also cited the film's 1980s setting to be subtle, saying that the "film doesn't shove the setting in your face, but rather lets you know about it, and is left as a small background element." He further added that the script was tightly paced and well written, naming the dialogue witty and inventive. He added that the performances of AVO and Rodriguez were among the year's funniest, and was shocked to learn "that those two were the masterminds behind the screenplay."

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes offers a 90% approval rating from 79 critics, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "Hysterically bonkers, creatively funny and entertaining, *Zombies Vs. Idiots* is a charming delight elevated by it's brilliant cast."

## Thematic analysis

### Friendship and Acceptance

The theme of friendship and acceptance is a cornerstone of the narrative. The tight-knit group of friends, including Eli, Dylan, Taylor, and Mike, showcase the strength of their bond. Despite Eli's struggles with bullying due to his unique interests, his friends stand by him. This theme is further emphasized through shared activities like playing Dungeons & Dragons, demonstrating the camaraderie that helps the characters navigate the challenges of adolescence together.

### Adolescent Challenges

The story provides a nuanced exploration of the challenges faced by teenagers. Eli's experiences with bullying at school underscore the difficulties of being different in a conformist environment. His infatuation with Maddy adds a layer of vulnerability, highlighting the universal struggles of navigating relationships during adolescence. The theme delves into the emotional and social aspects of growing up, portraying the characters as relatable figures dealing with the complexities of teenage life.

### Entrepreneurship and Innovation

An interesting theme woven into the narrative is entrepreneurship and innovation. Eli and Dylan's decision to start a Zombie Extermination business showcases the creativity and resourcefulness of young minds in addressing unconventional problems. This theme emphasizes the idea that innovation can come from unexpected places and that young individuals can contribute meaningfully to problem-solving, challenging traditional norms.

### Fear and Survival

The emergence of zombies from an alternate dimension introduces a theme of fear and survival. The initial focus on containment evolves into a more significant struggle for survival as the highly intelligent zombie, Dextroski, plans to take over the world. The narrative explores how fear can be a powerful motivator and how individuals must confront their fears to ensure their survival in the face of unexpected and supernatural threats.

### Responsibility and Consequences

The theme of responsibility is evident as the story unfolds. The accidental creation of the rift by Donald Rosenberg and the subsequent zombie outbreak highlight the consequences of unchecked scientific experimentation. The characters, particularly Eli and his friends, step up to take responsibility for dealing with the situation, showcasing the importance of addressing and rectifying mistakes.

### Heroism and Sacrifice

The climax of the story introduces themes of heroism and sacrifice. Eli's willingness to sacrifice himself by drawing the zombies' attention during the thunderstorm exemplifies the selflessness required in the face of imminent danger. The characters embrace their roles as heroes, demonstrating that ordinary individuals can rise to extraordinary circumstances when faced with a threat to their community.

### Redemption and Respect

The theme of redemption is explored through Eli's character arc. Initially an unpopular and bullied teenager, Eli transforms into a hero, earning the respect and admiration he desired. This theme highlights the idea that personal growth and positive actions can lead to redemption, portraying Eli as a relatable protagonist who overcomes adversity and gains the respect of his peers and the community.

## References

1. None, everything here is cannon - Nicolas AVO