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BLACK ZOMBIE traces the origins of zombie mania in pop culture and horror iconography, revealing a hidden and troubling past. Today, cultural commentators often use the "walking dead" as a clever metaphor to wax poetic about the dangers of consumerism. But long before such talk existed, our ideas about zombies arose out of ignorant misrepresentation and misunderstanding of the lives and history of Black Haitians and voudou. Director Maya Annik Bedward uses multiple narrative threads to weave this documentary together – not just depicting the history but ultimately offering hope for a community wronged. Along with historians, we hear from religious leaders, filmmakers, and fans of the genre.
Our first thread follows the history of how the Haitian population came to be, shared by Kaiama L. Glover, a professor of African studies. French colonizers set up shop at Saint-Domingue, hungry for sugar, coffee, and indigo. They needed workers to harvest the land's resources and imported enslaved people from Africa. The population of enslaved workers greatly outnumbered the white land owners, making harsh treatment necessary. Torn from their land, the people of Africa brought their disparate cultures with them and found commonality with one another. They spoke French Creole with as common tongue. But they still clung to and valued their African roots and beliefs, including voudou.
Like any religion, voudou allows the worshippers to commune closer with divine spirits. Followers of voudou believe that if you tap into the spirits they can possess you, but in an empowering way. They fill you with strength and supernatural abilities. Within the folklore that intersects with voudou, talk of zombies arose from the belief that a priest or oungan could wield powers for good or evil. That a wrong step could earn a consequence of having a oungan decide to use their powers against you.
These historic insights set the stage for how valid parts of culture then became exploited into zombies in cinema today. William Seabrook, a travel writer, was the one of the first in a long line of white Europeans armed with half-truths to write of the people of Haiti in a disparaging way. After observing enslaved workers and trying to engage them in conversation, his interpretation was that they had been turned into living dead and had the life sucked out. Rather than realizing that these are humans who have been stolen from their homes who may not be feeling much joy or enthusiasm for work, his ignorant assumptions lead to the novel, THE MAGIC ISLAND (later turned into the film WHITE ZOMBIE). After this first film, others followed suit, where white people visit "exotic" locales and face the threat of becoming a zombie if they crossed a line. These earliest examples had blatant negative depictions of Black characters are evil and ready to attack at the slightest wrong move.
We may breathe a sight of relief when we get to the George Romero era, where zombies can now be any race, and Black characters can even be the hero. The documentary takes us through a delightful tour of cinematic pitstops, entering the fray at the height of 1960s counter-cultural movement and into contemporary cornerstones such ask the 28 DAYS LATER series, THE WALKING DEAD, AND THE LAST OF US. Fans of horror always appreciate these tours through favorite films, but the journey may feel uncomfortable when paired with the commentary about inherent racism in the genre. For even in zombie films that lack creatures that look Black, the metaphor of otherness is there. Zombie stories tend to feature nice white families who have to protect their homes and their bodies from those ravenous for what they have.
The horror genre often offers a way for its fans to process trauma in a way that makes them feel seen and validated. What BLACK ZOMBIE demonstrates is that, for Black Haitians and their descendants, even this grace was denied. The symbol or creature Haitians know as a zombie got stolen and distorted, used as cheap entertainment and furthering erasing dignity from an already wronged culture. Bedward takes one step towards correcting this wrong by including her own black-and-white zombie film within the film. With no dialogue, it paints a story of a man stolen from Africa who longs for death. The Africans believed that if you died, you would be returned to mythical Africa. Instead, his white oppressor uses necromancy and forces him to live so that he can keep doing back-breaking work. The film ends with a call for this worker to wake up and remember who he is.
Taking a last detour to remind us that Haitians rose up against their French oppressors and won their independence, there's an encouragement for Black victims of the diaspora to rise up and claim their place in society. Perhaps the zombie has something to teach us about bondage and power. In zombie films, the nice families fear a zombie because of it's unstoppable hunger. There's an acknowledgment that sooner or later, the zombie will overpower you due to sheer numbers and never feeling tired. Similarly, Bedward and her crew want descendants of Haiti to remember their strength.
With its multi-layered and intricate storytelling approach, BLACK ZOMBIE will be appreciated by anyone who wants a deeper appreciation of the horror genre. In the wake of Ryan Coogler's SINNERS making a mark on awards history, this documentary also offers the next step for anyone wanting to continue the conversation about Black culture, spirituality, and storytelling.
Screening in its World Premiere during SXSW 2026 in the Documentary Spotlight section. See film details page for more information.
Final score: 4.5 out of 5
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