World War Z (2013)

World War Z arrived in the summer of 2013 carrying a considerable amount of baggage. Based loosely on Max Brooks's 2006 novel of the same name, the film shares little more than the title and basic premise with its source material. Where Brooks's book was structured as a series of oral testimonies assembled after a global zombie war, the film centres on a single protagonist, former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane, who is pulled back into service after a mysterious infection begins sweeping the planet, turning those it touches into fast-moving, swarming hordes. The production itself was famously troubled, with extensive reshoots, a reported rewrite of the third act, and a release date that slipped back several months. Whether any of that turbulence shows on screen is very much a matter of opinion.

Marc Forster directed the film for Paramount Pictures, working alongside production companies GK Films and Hemisphere Media Capital. Forster had previously worked across a broad range of tones and genres, from the quietly observed drama of Monster's Ball to the Bond entry Quantum of Solace, and World War Z sits somewhere in that same polished but unremarkable middle ground of big-budget studio filmmaking. The film runs to 116 minutes and carries a PG-13 rating in the United States (a 15 certificate on this side of the Atlantic), which shaped the way much of the horror is handled, leaning toward scale and momentum rather than anything more visceral. Brad Pitt, who also served as a producer on the project, plays Lane. Pitt was no stranger to films with a speculative or unsettling edge by this point, having appeared in work ranging from the crime thriller to outright science fiction (his turn in Twelve Monkeys being a notable earlier example), and he brought a certain grounded, everyman quality to the role. Mireille Enos plays his wife, Karin, while Daniella Kertesz and James Badge Dale appear in supporting roles as the story moves across multiple countries and settings.

The film landed into a zombie genre that had already been fairly well worked over by the early 2010s, with television, gaming, and cinema all having taken extensive runs at the material. The question for any new entry was always what it brought to a conversation that audiences already knew well. World War Z's particular angle was scale, the idea of a global pandemic seen at a geopolitical level rather than from a survivor's bunker or a suburban cul-de-sac. Whether that ambition was fully realised is, again, something on which reasonable viewers differ. If you want a sense of how Brad Pitt performs in films operating at a similar register of tension and moral weight, it is worth looking at Babel or indeed the Coen Brothers' sharp, dry comedy Burn After Reading for a very different mode entirely. For a point of comparison on the horror side of things, Predator 2 (1990) is a review worth reading for a film that takes a far more confrontational approach to the genre.

Another foray into zombie media. I remember watching this when it first released and hating it. Upon 2nd viewing it isn’t anywhere near as bad as I remember. It just doesn't really forward anything different to the genre. The frantic beginning is quickly overshadowed by the messy world tour and quick conclusions that Gerry (played by Brad Pitt) draws up. Would probably have done better as a TV series.

I think that verdict is a fair one, and looking back at what World War Z was trying to do, the TV series instinct feels right to me. The globe-trotting structure might have breathed more easily across several episodes, giving the story room to establish each location and let the tension build properly rather than rushing toward the next set piece. As it stands, the film is watchable enough on a quiet evening, but it never quite earns the sense of genuine dread it keeps reaching for. A big film that somehow feels smaller than its ambitions.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2013  | Watched: 2025-06-28

View on Letterboxd →

Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for World War Z (2013) on YouTube

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Paramount Plus · Paramount+ Amazon Channel · Paramount Plus Premium · Paramount Plus Basic with Ads
Rent: JustWatch TV · Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Paramount Plus Premium · Paramount Plus Essential · Starz Apple TV Channel · Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Rent: JustWatch TV · Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More with Brad Pitt: Babel (2006) · Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) · Burn After Reading (2008) · Twelve Monkeys (1995)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)