Dir. Faye Jackson

I like to think of myself as a zombie expert. I was a zombie on The Walking Dead (2010–2022) and a ghoul (a dry zombie) in Goosebumps (2015). While this may sound pretentious, the prerequisites for these zombie roles were locale, a thin physique, and big eyes. Plus, my times on set were long and, at times, monotonous. We zombies were rushed through wardrobe and makeup to get ready to…well…wait. We were stuck in place, waiting to be needed, usually pretty hungry and bored out of our minds.

Faye Jackson’s clever and darkly humorous film, Ten of Swords, opens with Jay finding himself in a similar situation when he darts into a bathroom and examines his freshly zombified face. From there, Jay is taken to the PPR, aka a “Post-mortem Recruitment” facility, where he’s assigned menial tasks.

At first, Jay thinks being a zombie is alright. He can deal with the monotony of his job as he gets fresh meat every day and has little memory of his previous life. But, his world gets turned upside-down when his zombie co-workers point out a startling difference between them and Jay. Jay is considerably younger and literally has a knife in his back.

You see, in the world of Ten of Swords, selling your body to the PPR after you die is a way for desperate folks to get money for their loved ones still living. The dying must consume a zombie parasite, and after they reanimate, the PPR forces them to work mindless jobs. Therefore, Jay’s youth and back-stabbing indicate he ended up there in a very different way. 

In case you don’t know, the titular tarot card of “Ten of Swords” is not a good one to draw. It represents betrayal, failure, and finality. There is no escape from the reading, but if you’re strong enough, it offers a chance for closure and renewal. Even with this positive spin, it’s clear that drawing the Ten of Swords card means that life, maybe even death, is going to absolutely suck. And that is exactly what Jay, after remembering why he has a knife in his back, discovers. 

Now, while you may think you’re a zombie expert, let me tell you that Ten of Swords spins the zombie genre on its head. I mean, we’re seeing the story from the zombie’s perspective (and shut up about Warm Bodies (2013), it doesn’t count). Take that ingenuity along with incredible world building, the astute dialogue by the lead zombies, a timeless blues soundtrack, a buzzing and disorientating sound design, and endlessly thought-provoking societal and mortality themes, and you’ve got the kick-ass Ten of Swords that is going to leave you wanting more. Come on, Faye Jackson, give us more!