I Love Sarah Jane

AUSTRALIA - 2007
Jimbo is 13. All he can think about is one girl, Sarah Jane. And no matter what stands in his way - bullies, violence, chaos, zombies - nothing is going to stop him from finding a way into her world.
The zombie movie has thrived in recent years, with re-imaginings from 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, and is still being successfully tweaked—as this Australian import shows. Shot digitally using the Thomson HD Viper Camera, I Love Sarah Jane is set in a parent-free neighborhood where the adults are either dead or undead. Without anyone to tell the kids to clean up the house, it just isn’t going to happen.
What makes Susser’s film so effective is the matter-of-fact way that the kids deal with their bleak situation. It’s nothing special to anyone to be carrying a bow with a quiver of arrows on your back like 13-year old Jimbo does. That’s just survival. Dark clouds loom—literally—overhead as he rides his bike around a trash-strewn, smoldering street. Amidst this awful backdrop blooms a chance for love—at least in Jimbo’s head. As a bored Sarah Jane watches a newscaster on TV describe the proper way to handle undead body disposal (incineration, of course), Jimbo sits down to make his move.
Any movie, even a short one, is reliant on a strong ending to make a good lasting impression. Without giving anything away, let’s just say that I Love Sarah Jane, written by Susser and David Michod, has a very satisfying one.
CAST
Brad Ashby ... Jimbo
Mia Wasikowska ... Sarah Jane
Vladimir Matovic ... Joey
Beau South ... Rory
Peter Yacoub ... Gram
Richard Mueck ... Zombie
Anton Enus ... Newsreader
Directed by Spencer Susser