Horror has always been a genre with its foundations deeply imprinted in sociological satire. Through the use of vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other creatures that go bump in the night, filmmakers and other creators have been able to lace their scares with a healthy dose of political and societal subtext. And that seems to be the driving force behind Ben Wheatley’s return to TV, “Generation Z.”
According to THR, Wheatley is working with Channel 4 on an original horror series, that he will write and direct, that takes the typical zombie premise and adds a heaping helping of Brexit commentary. “Generation Z” focuses on a community that finds itself thrown into chaos when a military convoy spills toxic waste near a retirement community, turning the Baby Boomers into zombies. All that’s left to protect the community is a group of teenagers that have to prevent the older folks from spreading their disease by eating the flesh of the younger generation.
Yes, there’s really nothing subtle about the satire on display here. And that’s perfectly alright, especially when you have someone like Wheatley at the helm.
“I’m excited to be working with Channel 4 and The Forge,” said Wheatley. “‘Generation Z’ is my first original created TV project and I couldn’t think of better partners.”
Wheatley is one of the best filmmakers working today, and one of the few younger directors that has yet to fully jump into the world of franchise filmmaking. With his start in TV, the filmmaker then jumped into features with projects like “Kill List,” “Sightseers,” “High-Rise,” and “Free Fire.” Most recently, he finished work on his 2018 film “Happy New Year, Colin Burstead” and a few episodes of the CBS All Access series “Strange Angel.”
There’s no word on international distribution or when the series might premiere on Channel 4. However, Wheatley is expected to begin production on “Generation Z” sometime in 2020.