The Last Kids on Earth - Book One (Film)

It’s not often that we discuss television series on this blog, although we usually justify doing so when part of it is presented as a feature film. Such is the case with “Book One” of The Last Kids on Earth, an animated Netflix series based on Max Brallier’s book series of the same name, of which I have recently become a fan (to the point I signed up for the official fan club). While Book One is technically the first season, it’s only an hour-long feature, as opposed to the two ten-episode seasons that followed. As such, since I’ve enjoyed the books, I felt like I could weigh in on how well it works not only as an adaptation, but as a film on its own merits. Fortunately, I can say that Book One succeeds on both fronts.

Following a sudden worldwide zombie outbreak, thirteen-year-old Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard) has taken refuge in his foster brother’s treehouse in his hometown of Wakefield, Massachusetts. While searching for a small screwdriver from a glasses repair kit, he accidentally angers Blarg, a towering monster that has taken up residence within the town. After fixing his walkie-talkie, he reunites with his best friend Quint Baker (Garland Whitt) and, soon after, teams up with former school bully Dirk Savage (Charles Demers) in the hopes of rescuing his crush, June Del Toro (Montserrat Hernandez), so they can all survive the apocalypse together. Throughout the adventure, however, he’ll have to avoid zombies, fight monsters and figure out how to defeat Blarg once and for all.

As an adaptation, Book One is, for the most part, very faithful. There are some small changes here and there, but the loss of Jack’s internal thoughts, which helps explain some small details in the book like why Quint addresses the others as “friend”, doesn’t detract from the experience, as the story itself still works without it. Some other small changes or omissions still work for the format, as certain moments may not have added that much to the plot and only existed for the sake of faithfulness to the source.

On its own merits, Book One is well-written and stays fun from start to finish. Jack, Quint, Dirk and June all have clearly distinct personalities and skill sets, but work well as a team once they all warm up to each other. Each of them is also introduced efficiently without feeling like the film is moving too quickly for its own good and there’s some good early character development. For instance, Dirk gradually appreciates Quint more once he sees what he can do and, in a moment when they’re alone, Jack opens up to June about why he’s been acting the way he has during a zombie apocalypse, which includes gamifying it with his “Feats of Apocalyptic Success”. Although the characters do get into real danger, the story ultimately maintains a light-hearted tone, which helps it stand out from other popular dystopian fiction that prefer a constantly moody or brooding atmosphere in search of realism.

Who says the end of the world can't be fun?
L-R: June Del Toro (Montserrat Hernandez), Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard),
Dirk Savage (Chalres Demers), Quint Baker (Garland Whitt)

It also helps that Book One has a bright color palette that not only suits the younger demographic (without overdoing it), but is also arguably more realistic than the typical brown or muted tones from other zombie fiction on the market (and across mediums), as the real world is usually bright and colorful. The art style of this interpretation resembles a more animation-friendly version of Douglas Holgate’s art style from the books, faithfully translating the characters to the small screen while adding in some unique touches like consistently having Jack wear a glove on his right hand (a detail that’s actually important later on in the books). Everyone looks distinct from one another, with differing silhouettes and body types, and it’s neat to see the monsters animated for the first time. There were some small errors here and there, like at least one brief shot where Jack doesn’t have gloves on or June hanging a red hoodie out to dry when she otherwise wears a blue one (she consistently wears a red one in the books), but not enough to take me out of the story. Otherwise, the animation actually looks pretty good and the otherwise noticeable CG shots blend in pretty well with the 2D elements.

The voice cast not only does a good job, their voices came out kind of close to how I had imagined them in my head while reading the books, especially Quint. After hearing them in this interpretation of the story, I also started hearing them as I continued reading the books, which I would also take as a sign of good casting. While I didn’t end up remembering the music afterwards, it did a good job at maintaining the right atmosphere.

Whether or not you’re familiar with the original book, The Last Kids on Earth – Book One makes for a very entertaining hour and acts as a breath of fresh air in a landscape of dark dystopias. If you enjoy this, I would also still highly recommend the book series (just make sure you read them in release order for the best experience, including the Thrilling Tales from the Treehouse anthology).