Elizabeth Bennet fights zombies while trying to marry well. That is the whole pitch for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and it is a pitch that never quite delivers on its own ambition.
Burr Steers directs and writes this adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 mashup, which grafts a zombie outbreak onto Jane Austen’s classic tale of love and class. The result is a film that spends its runtime doing two jobs at once, and neither one gets the attention it needs.
Trailer, via Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The Bennet Sisters as Warriors
Lily James plays Elizabeth Bennet as a fighter skilled in martial arts and weaponry, and she brings real energy to the role. Sam Riley plays Fitzwilliam Darcy as a zombie killer who carries the weight of upper-class prejudice. The chemistry between them is the film’s strongest asset, even when the script asks them to fight alongside each other instead of talk.
Jack Huston plays George Wickham as a charming man with a secret, and he sells the betrayal that fuels the film’s central conflict. Bella Heathcote plays Jane Bennet, Douglas Booth plays Charles Bingley, Matt Smith plays Parson Collins, and Charles Dance plays Mr. Bennet, with Lena Headey as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Suki Waterhouse as Kitty Bennet, Emma Greenwell as Caroline Bingley, Aisling Loftus as Charlotte Lucas, and Hermione Corfield as Cassandra Featherstone rounding out the ensemble.
Where the Film Loses Its Way
The problem is structural. Grahame-Smith’s novel is a parody, but this film treats the zombie elements seriously while treating the romance as a light comedy. That split focus leaves the film chasing two tones at once, and neither one lands.
The film’s action set pieces are competent but forgettable. Zombies are used mostly as a way to clear rooms, not as a threat that reshapes the characters’ lives. The film also leans heavily on slow motion and stylized violence, which works for a minute or two before it becomes a visual tic.
The romantic comedy elements fare no better. The film’s attempts at wit are often flat, and the social satire that made Austen’s original so sharp is diluted into broad jabs about class. The film’s tagline promises “Bloody lovely,” but the film itself rarely finds the balance that tagline suggests.
What Works
- The central romance between Elizabeth and Darcy, which remains the film’s emotional core
- Lily James and Sam Riley’s chemistry, which grounds the silliness in something genuine
- The film’s commitment to period detail, which makes the world feel lived-in even when the story doesn’t
What Doesn’t
- The pacing, which drags in stretches between action sequences
- The script’s failure to treat the zombie threat as anything more than a plot device
- The comedy, which too often falls flat rather than landing with wit
The Verdict
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a film that understands the appeal of both its halves but never quite merges them. It is a movie about zombies that spends too much time on manners, and a movie about manners that spends too much time on gore. The final score: 4.5 of 10.
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