Personally speaking, I am not a big fan of horror movies. I’m not a fan of being scared, I think jump scares are far too utilized in the genre and the genre’s propensity for endless sequels is tiring. However, I will occasionally venture out to see a horror movie that appears to step out from the proverbial crowd, and “The Cured” is absolutely one such movie.
While “The Cured” has several moments that will scare an audience outright, the fact that the horror aspect of the film doesn’t dominate it is what makes it unique. The film creates a socio-political allegory about re-integrating former zombies into society after being cured of their condition. The setting also plays a major role in the themes of the movie as well.
Being set in Ireland, the film is very aware of its own history surrounding The Troubles (a guerilla war over Irish nationalism), integrating domestic terrorism directly into the plot and having it fuel one of the main character’s motivations after the re-integration efforts are not as smoothly operated as they could have been. Other central themes of human empathy, PTSD and repentance also factor in greatly as the former zombies attempt to continue on with their lives after committing atrocious acts.
A point that the film brings up early on is that these former zombies remember everything they did as zombies while having no control. That feeling of extreme guilt combined with the hostility of people who were never infected towards the titular Cured, creates one of the least inviting realms possible. The movie is bleak, but it raises poignant points about treating fellow men like fellow men, despite their not having been men for an extended period of time. All of this combined with the star power of Ellen Page creates a film that may fly under the radar, but is definitely worth a watch if one finds themselves in the mood for something a little more cerebral when searching for something scary to watch.