Hemet (2023)- A Tale of Evil Landlords and the Zombie Apocalypse
Who doesn’t love a good zombie apocalypse flick? Unfortunately, too many movies and TV shows oversaturate the genre with bloated action and bullshit drama. And since the world experienced a neutered version back in 2020, it makes sense to look back at those difficult times. But you know what’s even more heinous than zombies? Landlords! Yes, you heard right folks. They profit off of people living in their buildings while constantly threatening eviction. But maybe there’s a movie that’ll shed a sympathetic light on landlords. Just not Hemet, or The Landlady Don’t Drink Tea.
An old landlady named Liz Topham-Myrtle (played by Brian Patrick Butler) grows crueler and more erratic by the day in the town of Hemet, California. An epidemic leads the President of the United States to declare a nationwide lockdown. Now the tenants have no choice but to survive and hope they don’t get evicted. To add insult to injury, Liz and her posse are in cahoots with the corrupt sheriff and his incompetent officers, using them to enforce her cruelty. But as she pits the tenants against each other, the situation rapidly deteriorates between the aggravated tenants as they stand up to their evil landlady.
Before I get to my gripes, let me start with what I liked. I’ve seen plenty of small budget films with some questionable to awful acting. Whether it be stiff line delivery or a lack of emoting (looking at you, Birdemic). However, the acting in Hemet is actually pretty good. Every actor puts proper emotion and enunciation into their line delivery, making every scene feel like a natural interaction. But my favorite actor has to be Brian Patrick Butler as Liz. That’s right, she’s played by a dude in an old lady mask. He perfectly encapsulates the antagonistic and corrupt landlord persona and energizes every scene he’s in. Additionally, the cinematography and overall aesthetic further highlight the tenants’ despair and loneliness. Hemet’s color grading is very reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn, especially its warm hues of orange and teal (even though this movie doesn’t take place in Mexico).
Hemet is also one of the more thematically powerful films we’ve seen. The abuse of power is a recurring element throughout the story which we see with the police and Liz. We also get commentary on the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic (minus the masks and plus the zombies) along with critiques on capitalism. If you ask me, the film is begging for a Marxist analysis which isn’t a bad thing at all, as its ideas are explored through both comedic absurdity and moments of horrific violence. Think something along the lines of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 or Dr. Strangelove (just on a significantly less destructive scale). Combined with its low budget feel results in the film encapsulating a “B-movie with A-movie ideas”.
This isn’t the first zombie apocalypse movie or show we’ve reviewed on Film Purgatory (and certainly won’t be the last). With that said, this movie also raised several questions for me. My first question is who is supposed to be the main character? The Walking Dead series has Rick Grimes, The Last of Us has Joel and Ellie. But here? I have no idea who we’re supposed to follow. None of the characters were overtly sympathetic or relatable. They all seemed equally hostile towards one another. You could say the lockdown was responsible for this, yet we hardly see the characters acting good for the sake of being good. Not to mention that it gets really aggravating after listening to everyone swear every other five minutes.
Sitting through a movie will be hard if I don’t really like any of the characters. Hemet is only an hour and a half long, yet I felt like it already ran its course after 35 minutes. The first 1/16th is spent addressing the epidemic. Beyond that, we’re introduced to a bunch of characters going through their individual struggles which soon become connected since they live in the same…townhouse complex? (it wasn’t very clear). Now this can easily work in a movie. But here, I both don’t understand their struggles and can’t stand their increasing pettiness. By the time I felt the movie was reaching its conclusion, I made the mistake of hovering over the play bar and found out we still had a full hour left!
Which brings me to the epidemic as a whole. Does the epidemic actually cause people to become zombies? Both the film 28 Days Later and the legendary filmmaker George Romero are referenced by two different characters to push forward the zombie apocalypse narrative. Yet some of these “zombies” are still articulate enough to speak simple sentences and understand basic instructions. Last time I checked, zombies do not have the mental capacity to do either. Even in the film, some of the cast see the “zombies” in a more nuanced light and think they shouldn’t just be gunned down. While it’s clear the infection is not the film’s focus, the zombies ultimately aren’t utilized to their fullest potential. Making them feel underdeveloped as a major plot element.
Is Hemet a movie we’d recommend? Maybe. You could easily watch it for its themes, acting and general aesthetic alone. Then again, there are plenty of better movies with the same aesthetic that also tackle the same themes (some we’ve even reviewed here). Nonetheless, Hemet is far from a bad movie by any means. Despite its slower pacing and troublesome characterization, its dark humor along with the other aforementioned positives help the film stand proud. Meanwhile, the intense gore as the cherry on top makes this a unique, but typical low budget movie. Ultimately it won’t win any Oscars but then again, those guys are just the film industry’s landlords.
