Cargo

This is a scene from the horror movie Cargo (Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, 2017).

In this post-apocalyptic movie a family – mother Kay (Susie Porter), father Andy (Martin Freeman) and baby Rosie (Marlee Jane McPherson-Dobbins and Lily Anne McPherson-Dobbins) – is stranded in rural Australia while the world has been overtaken by a violent pandemic that turns people into zombies within 48 hours.

In this clip the family are living on a houseboat and running out of food. Kay investigates an abandoned sailboat to see what supplies she can find and is attacked by a zombie who transmits the virus.

This clip has all the hallmarks of classic cinematic build-up. We know immediately that it's going to end badly when we first see her looking at the sailboat, even if we can't guess what will happen.

The interior filming feels claustrophobic, adding to the sense of danger, with the visuals of dirty water and the sound of flies buzzing on the soundtrack creating a sense of unease.

There is a slight reprieve when Kay happily finds a disposable razor and we think she may get away unharmed. But this is a common filmmaking technique, with a moment of climax subverted by an anticlimax, only to then switch again to climax.

Ultimately this is a tense and well-directed scene that helps set up the rest of the movie and the father's quest to protect their child.