Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
After an unprecedented global pandemic has turned the majority of humankind into violent infected beings, Morgan, a man gifted with the ability to speak the infected's new language, leads the last survivors on a hunt for patient zero and a cure.
Patient Zero offers a mildly interesting hook—a survivor who can communicate with the infected—but squanders it with a formulaic narrative and underwhelming execution. The acting is serviceable at best, with even notable cast members (Matt Smith, Natalie Dormer, Stanley Tucci) unable to elevate thin characterization. Cinematography is functional but largely unremarkable, mostly confined to bunker interiors with little visual ambition. The language-communication premise grants it some novelty points above the average zombie thriller, but it doesn't develop this concept as far as it could. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying, failing to deliver meaningful payoff for its central mystery.