Reality Z: Season 1 – Netflix Review

REALITY Z is a new Netflix zombie series from Brazil. It’s based on a British horror-comedy series and works perfectly as a Brazilian spin-off. Some episodes are stronger than others, obviously. Still, it delivers on twists and really dark humor. Full season 1 Reality Z review here!

Reality Z is a new Netflix series from Brazil with 30-minute episodes, so it’s a perfect bite-sized treat. Also, watching this in the midst of the Corona pandemic does lend a very meta-layer to the series. Somehow, certain elements seem strangely familiar… but in a horror-comedy sort of way, obviously.

I will say that, to me, every other episode seems to fall a bit flat. Or, to put a positive spin on it, after one really good episode, the next seems to be a bit lackluster. Maybe it’s more in comparison that some episodes falter since none of them are actually bad or boring.

Continue reading our Reality Z season 1 review below.

Netflix series based on Dead Set

Reality Z is based on a British zombie horror-comedy (no, not Shaun of the Dead), but it’s easy to see why they created this spin-off. It works really well since we get to focus on various characters and their challenges as this zombie virus ravages Brazil.

The British series, this new Netflix series is based on, is the zombie horror-comedy Dead Set from 2008. It’s available to watch on Netflix in some countries (including the US, Canada, and the UK) as of writing this review, so do check it out. You won’t be spoiled by watching the original mini-series since they’ve made this more of a spin-off than a direct remake (in most ways, anyway).

Dead Set was written by Charlie Brooker who went on to create Black Mirror. Basically, this was created by one of the most amazing and wonderful storytellers in horror sci-fi today. With both Dead Set and Reality Z, we get a lot of humor as well.

Wet squelching

When you check out Reality Z, then please do go with the original language and just choose the closed-caption version of the English subtitles. When you do, you’ll get to enjoy the sentence “wet squelching” on your screen quite a lot. Also, you’ll get an added layer of crude humor with descriptions such as “passes gas wetly”.

Oh yes, this is a horror-comedy with all that it entails. Also, the scene with that particular description in the subtitles is truly amazing!

Finally, since this Netflix series lands squarely in the zombie horror-comedy niche, we get lots of funny and crude characters. The kind that you are meant to hate, but also, you know that they exist. Even if their selfish ways are dialed up for the purpose of entertainment, they still seem strangely familiar and recognizable.

Watch Reality Z on Netflix!

Cláudio Torres is the writer of this Brazilian Netflix series. He is also a director on season 1 along with Rodrigo Monte. I am not familiar with anything either have done in the past, but their work on this series is certainly commendable.

If you enjoy this Brazilian series, then there are more Netflix series from Brazil, you could check out. In terms of genre productions, the Netflix series Omniscient is certainly worth checking out. It’s a dystopian sci-fi series with a plot that seems straight out of Black Mirror.

You might like: Our review of the Brazilian sci-fi Netflix series Omniscient here >

Another thing I enjoyed about Reality Z, is the way each episode centers on a song that plays throughout the episode and sets the mood. As someone who always has music in the background, I love it when music is used as a soundtrack to the events going on. Also, the songs are both by Brazilian and international artists, so you never know what you’re going to get.

Season 1 of Reality Z has just 10 episodes that are each around 30-minutes. It really is a perfect treat for fans of zombies and horror-comedy.

Season 1 of Reality Z is out on Netflix globally from June 10, 2020.

Details

Writer: Cláudio Torres
Directors: Cláudio Torres, Rodrigo Monte
Stars: Ravel Andrade, Luellem de Castro, Emílio de Mello, Ana Hartmann, Jesus Luz, Carla Ribas, Sabrina Sato, Guilherme Weber