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My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving Review
Image Credit: Freestyle Releasing
Loading...My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving Review
Joshua Warren Bush– Marcus
Ray Chang– Jung
Chris Wu– Kim
Grace Shen– Me Young
Walker Haynes– Frank
Ciera Foster– Nicole
Byron Vasquez Jr.– Alfredo
Paul Julianelli– Luis
David Jason Perez– Paco
(check out the rest of the cast here
Directed by Charles B. Unger
Screenplay by Richard Soriano
Distributed by Freestyle Releasing
Rated TV-MA
Runtime– 105 minutes
https://www.myapocalypticthanksgiving.com/
My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving is now available to watch on the free Tubi streaming platform here
My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving, directed by Charles B. Unger and currently available to watch on the free Tubi streaming platform (you can watch the movie here), is a moving comedy-drama about friends and family and figuring out where you belong. The movie goes on a bit too long and drags every now and then, but it’s filled with several terrific performances and has a worthwhile message at its core. The movie also has a fictional zombie apocalypse TV show in it that, if it were real, I would likely watch as it sounds weirdly fun.
My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving stars Joshua Warren Bush as Marcus, a disabled young man that lives in a group home with other disabled young men. When the owner and the operator of the group home, Doris (Willow Hale), dies suddenly, Marcus decides that he wants to find his birth mother and spend Thanksgiving with her. After funding out that his mother is in prison and how much money it will take to ride on a bus to the prison to visit, Marcus decides that he needs to get a job in order to earn money. Marcus asks Kim (Chris Wu), a delivery worker for a local laundromat, if he can come work with him. Kim tells Marcus that he can come work with him, just as long as his father Jung (Ray Chang), signs off on it. So Kim takes Marcus to the laundromat, introduces him to Jung, and after some initial trepidation, Jung hires Marcus to work at the laundromat. So Marcus does various odd tasks at the laundromat (his first job is to clean the alley behind the laundromat), does a good job, and as time goes on Marcus strikes up a friendship with Jung, becomes an invaluable employee, and introduces Jung to the zombie show that he is obsessed with. Jung’s wife Me Young (Grace Shen) isn’t a fan of having Marcus as an employee, as she doesn’t know him or trust him at all. Me Young is suspicious of anything her son Kim does, including the hiring of Marcus, as Kim is a recovering drug addict with a checkered past. Yes, Me Young loves her son Kim, but she doesn’t want to go through again whatever nasty stuff that Kim did before he went into rehab. Marcus eventually charms Me Young, too, and essentially becomes a member of the family. Sort of.
While all of that is happening, Marcus starts to have issues at the group home with the new group home operator Frank (Walker Hynes), refusing to take his meds and generally not following the rules of the home. Marcus also loses his spot at a local school for bringing illegal drugs there, and develops issues with Nicole (Ciera Foster), the social worker that oversees the group home. Nicole wants to move Marcus out of the home and place him in another facility, something that neither Marcus nor Frank want to happen (Marcus doesn’t want to move out and go live somewhere else, and Frank doesn’t want to lose a resident at the home, as that will hurt the home’s finances and potentially cause the home to shut down). And while all of that is happening, Marcus starts to hang out with/work for a drug dealer in order to earn more money. The drug dealer, Luis (Paul Julianelli) and his main henchman Paco (David Jason Perez), befriend Marcus and make it seem like selling illegal drugs and becoming a part of the drug gang is a good thing (they also have a hot girl flirt with Marcus).
Somehow, Marcus manages to juggle all of these aspects of his life for a little while without getting into trouble, and it seems like Marcus might be able to actually earn enough money to go visit his birth mother. But Marcus’ luck eventually runs out, and his “new life” begins to unravel in frightening and dangerous ways. Will Marcus be able to rebound from these setbacks without completely destroying his life and world? `
The most surprising aspect of My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving is how the various plot threads manage to come together in the end and make sense, and that includes the fictional zombie apocalypse TV show that Marcus is obsessed with and that we see bits and pieces of as the movie progresses. There are moments in the middle of the movie where it seems like the inclusion of the zombie apocalypse TV show has nothing to do with anything and is just something that we see Marcus watching at random times along with everyone else he manages to convince to watch the show, especially Jung. But the way the zombie story merges with Marcus’ story is funny, moving, and clever. How often do you see a zombie story in this day and age that’s practically positive and life affirming? I think it’s also surprising how the Frank character, played by Walker Haynes, isn’t more proactive throughout the story. When you find out that he’s now in charge of the group home and that he needs Marcus to stay in the home so that the home can still operate, you expect to see Frank trying to be in Marcus’ life way more than he is. It almost seems inconceivable that Frank is just resigned to whatever Marcus decides to do and that he is going to let whatever happens happen. Frank does warn people that Marcus needs to be on his meds, and that when Marcus isn’t on his meds he is potentially dangerous, but that warning seems inadequate. Why isn’t Frank doing more? Is it because Frank is overwhelmed with the other people living in the group home?
The drug gang aspect of the story is a bit undercooked, and that mostly has to do with the lack of drug gang members that we see. We see Luis, we see Paco, we see the one hot babe (I’m not sure who this is), and that’s really it. Shouldn’t there be more people in this drug gang? Is Paco the only guy actually selling and moving the drugs? That seems hard to believe. There’s also a bit of a tone issue with the way Marcus becomes a sort of member of the gang. There are moments where it sure seems like we’re supposed to laugh at the idea of Marcus the disabled guy being a part of a vicious drug gang but there’s nothing funny happening. Maybe it would have been better if Marcus just befriended Paco or Luis and hung out with them instead of having Marcus be an active part of the gang, especially when you see what happens towards the end of the movie.
The money aspect of the story is a bit confusing. We see Marcus receive pay envelopes from his job at the laundromat, but we never actually see or learn how much he’s actually earning. Is Marcus being underpaid? If we knew how much money he was actually earning, the audience could better understand why Marcus thinks he needs more and more jobs to earn more and more money to get the bus ticket to the prison to see his birth mother. Was Marcus being paid biggish money when he worked at the school that he was thrown out of/fired from? Does he have to give Frank a portion of the money he earns for upkeep and whatnot at the group home? I know this all sounds like me being nitpicky regarding the details of the story, but knowing this stuff would definitely help grasp what Marcus is actually doing. There’s also a “time” aspect of the plot that isn’t very clear. Just how far out from the Thanksgiving holiday does all of this happen? Just how long does Marcus work at the laundromat, then the drug gang?
One of the best parts of the movie is the argument over whether or not the Thanksgiving meal is actually lunch or dinner. The question of what Thanksgiving actually is comes from the zombie apocalypse TV show, and it’s never not funny when a character explains what they think Thanksgiving really is. Personally, I think both terms are correct, as not everyone eats the Thanksgiving meal at the same general time. Do lots of people eat the Thanksgiving meal in the afternoon, “lunch” time? Yes. But plenty of people eat that meal in the early evening, too. It all really depends on what you have happening in your life.
Joshua Warren Bush is nothing short of fantastic as Marcus. You can’t help but root for him every step of the story, even when you see him making gigantic mistakes, like befriending Luis and Paco or the moments where he doesn’t want to take his meds. You can see the potential disaster coming a mile away and you know that it isn’t going to end well, but you still end up hoping that you’re wrong and that Marcus makes it through everything unscathed. Marcus is a nice guy at heart, and you don’t want anything bad to happen to him. Marcus “doesn’t deserve it.” Bush also gives Marcus a charisma that draws the audience in, which is exactly what you want with the star of a movie. And Marcus’ obsession with a zombie apocalypse TV show is relatable as hell to those in the audience that are genre fans because, well, on some level, we’re all like Marcus. When that zombie show is on, dammit, it’s time to watch the latest episode. Nothing else matters in that moment. And the zombie action figures that Marcus has in his possession are also super relatable. How many genre nerds have genre merchandise that they’ve made a big part of their lives? Great stuff all around.
Ray Chang does a fine job as Jung, the owner of the laundromat. Jung is a guy that is just trying to get through each day with a minimum of nonsense, as he already has more than enough to deal with in his “regular” life. He has a business to run, a wife that he needs to help (Me Young has physical issues that come and go), and a son, Kim, that he loves but is also suspicious of. Despite all of that, Jung gives Marcus a job, helps him do that job, and ends up befriending him. It’s all great to see. It’s also a damn shame what happens to Jung towards the end of the movie.
Grace Shen also does a fine job as Me Young, Jung’s wife. Me Young is somehow even more stressed than Jung when we first meet her, but we don’t really know why. The more we learn about her and what her family has gone through, you start to root for Me Young as much as you root for Marcus. Me Young’s best moment in the movie is when she needs help getting to an appointment, and Marcus puts her in a shopping cart and pushes her to the appointment. It’s a moment of vulnerability that you don’t necessarily expect to see from her, and it’s oddly heartwarming the way it all plays out.
Chris Wu is annoying as Kim, and that is actually a compliment. Kim is a very troubled person, a recovering addict that, all in all, probably isn’t getting all of the help that he needs. At the same time, Kim sure seems like a major jerk. Kim is flippant and sarcastic and he doesn’t seem to fully understand how what he does affects those around him, both his family and friends. You root for him, too, but you also sort of do it at arm’s length. It’s a frustrating thing to watch on multiple levels. Wu clearly knows what he’s doing with the character, and it’s a joy to watch him be that jerk.
Walker Haynes does a nice job as Frank, the guy that ends up having to operate the group home after the owner unexpectedly dies. Like I said earlier, I’d love to know why he isn’t more proactive in Marcus’ life, especially when he knows that Marcus is dangerous when he doesn’t take his meds. Is Frank just completely overwhelmed by having to be the head of the group home? Does Frank have too much on his plate? I wish the movie spent a few minutes exploring this aspect of the story. The same goes for Nicole, played by Ciera Foster. If she knows what Frank knows, why isn’t she more proactive in Marcus’ life beyond making plans to move him to a different facility? I will say, though, that Walker Haynes gets one of the best lines in the movie. “Yes, Jesus was a zombie.” I laughed at it.
And Byron Vasquez does a good job as Alfredo, one of the young men in the group home. Vasquez doesn’t have that many scenes in the movie, but what we see him do as Alfredo is interesting. I’d love to see what a “regular day” in the life of Alfredo is all about. Maybe we’ll see that in the sequel, if that ever happens?
I liked My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving quite a bit. The movie has its issues, sure, but its heart is in the right place regarding friends and family. In the end, that’s what matters most with this type of movie. My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving is worth checking out, so you should most definitely do that.
See My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving. See it, see it, see it. My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving is now available to watch on the free Tubi streaming platform here
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: At least 2.
Undead bodies: Several. You see them all in the zombie apocalypse TV show.
Explosions: A few.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: People talking about how to kill zombies. A gun. A knife. A power cord. A gas powered chainsaw. Alcohol drinking. Popcorn eating. Breakfast. Social media bullshit. An argument about what Thanksgiving actually is. A rolling pin used as a weapon. Heart attack. Hot grease to the face. Zombies on fire. Knife thrown to the eye. Laundromat hooey. Dumpster cleaning. A washing machine. A bag of drugs. A cardboard bed. Dinner. Mobility issues. Multiple drug jokes. Stairs issues. Multiple arguments. Multiple pay envelopes. Accidental broom breaking. A blue bandana. Face punching. An attitude problem. A pistol. An attempted robbery. A shooting. Attempted tattoo. Multiple “zombie hallucinations.” Surveillance camera fixing. An emotional breakdown. More face punching. Baseball bat to the face. Arm stabbing. Another attempted robbery. Even more face punching. Action figure dropping. Prison stuff. Popcorn throwing. A proper ending.
Kim Richards? None.
Gratuitous: A zombie apocalypse TV show. “Thanksgiving lunch!” Scrambled eggs. A guy calling scrambled eggs “zombie brains.” Zombie action figures. Riding in the front seat. A guy talking to himself. A money chart. A zombie Steve Jobs doll. A blue bandana. A thong. A guy talking to a photo. Pizza. Animal heads on the wall. Fruit. Surveillance camera hooey. Microwave dinners. A gang dance party. TV dinners.
Best lines: “Listen. Repeat after me. I am a strong woman.” “Let’s say a prayer, shall we? Shall we?” “Frank! Frank! Something’s wrong with Doris!” “Can you tuck me in? Marcus, you’re 23 years old.” “Do zombies have families?” “Yes, Jesus was a zombie.” “Gotta charge my phone!” “I see you’re still doing the zombie thing?” “Can I get a job at the laundromat?” “Kim, what are you doing?” “Can you clean dumpsters?” “Yeah, go tell Luis, dorsal fin.” “Yeah, I’m the hero this town deserves.” “What’s with the bandana? You look like a mini-Rambo.” “No mother deserves to be spoken to like that.” “What is your obsession with zombies? They’re disgusting.” “Do you guys sell drugs?” “Yo, he’s retarded, not deaf!” “The next time you stay out this late, I’m calling the police.” “Who is retarded?” “Marcus, what are you doing with that gun?” “Adios, dog.” “Breakfast is served!” “Mama, why did you put me in a group home?” “Marcus! You’re still retarded!” “Will they put me in the electric chair?” “My show’s on!”
