The Apocalypse Z ending will have audiences slack-jawed long after the credits have rolled.
The new Amazon Prime Video zombie thriller, fully titled Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End, debuted on the service on October 31, offering a Spanish-language take on the zombie apocalypse.
The film follows a Spanish widower named Manel who loses contact with his family after the outbreak of a dangerous, zombie-creating disease. After holing up at home as the world crumbles around him, Manel sets off on a journey to reconnect with his lost sister and nephew and hopefully avoid the infected in doing so.
The Apocalypse Z Ending Explained
After an action-packed journey from his home in Spain to the Canary Islands, the Apocalypse Z ending leaves fans on an ambiguous, dour note.
Throughout the film, audiences follow protagonist Manel as he ventures from his home in Galicia, Spain to the Canary Islands to reconnect with his sister and nephew who have seemingly made it to safety in a newly zombie-infected world.
This adventure sees Manel interacting with other survivors, setting sail on the Atlantic, and eventually being captured by a mysterious military group led by a Russian named Ushakov.
After discovering that not everything is as it seems on Ushakov's boat, with evidence of killing and looting the refugees it is picking up, Manel makes a grand escape with the help of a Ukrainian guard Viktor Pritchenko.
The pair make a break for it, ending up at a hospital in the coastal city of Pontevedra, Spain, to hopefully acquire a helicopter that can take them to the assumed safety of a Canary Islands quarantine zone.
At the hospital, Manel and Viktor meet a nurse Lucia, nun Cecilia, and three children. The group hatches a plan to hopefully avoid detection from any of the infected, hop aboard a nearby helicopter, and take off into the sky.
That is when a final confrontation between Manel and Ushakov's men takes place. With the team running for the aircraft sitting out in front of the hospital, Ushakov's group arrives on the scene.
In one last action sequence, Manel takes on Ushakov and his army as the group of survivors makes their way to the hospital helicopter.
On their daring journey for escape, Sister Cecilia sadly is bitten and is forced to be left behind. With Ushakov hot on their heels, and the rest of the Manel's crew on board the helicopter, Manel breaks open the holding pen surrounding them, letting in hundreds of infected to overrun Ushakov and his men.
The film ends with Manel on board the helicopter with the Canary Islands coming into view. As they approach what they have been calling a potential sanctuary free of the zombie infection, the team sees two fighter jets fly overhead with Manel's sister coming over the radio to say they should not come.
This is the last thing fans see, leaving audiences to wonder why Manel is being told to stay away from the Canaries and what will become of the film's central group of survivors.
What Will Happen Next in Apocalypse Z?
Thankfully for fans itching to know what will happen next after Apocalypse Z's shocking ending, there is some source material to dive into.
The streaming zombie thriller is based on a book by Manel Loureiro, of which there are two sequels.
The second book, titled Dark Days, sees Manel and his team landing on an island just east of the Canaries known as Lanzarote.
While during much of the first book, which the Amazon Prime Video thriller is based on, this collection of Spanish islands in the South Atlantic is touted as a haven that has managed to skirt the zombie infection, the second book reveals that is not the case.
The infection has made its way to the Canaries and Manel's sister is in danger.
This sends the group on a mission to find Manel's family and save them from the infected outbreak that has befallen the idyllic island territory.
Whether a second movie based on this story gets made remains to be seen. However, viewership numbers have proven to be solid in its early goings, making a good case for a potential sequel.
Apocalypse Z is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
