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Fallen netted firs and a giant candy cane sit beside a snowy fence at dusk, with a blank poster under an amber lamp and open snow to the left.
Layered paper fir trees stand in a snowy Christmas tree yard beneath amber lamps, with a dark forest and pale moon behind.

Christmas-adjacent · 2017

Anna and the Apocalypse

34/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 34 ↓
UK certificate 1597 min
Comedy · Musical

A Scottish zombie musical set in the run-up to Christmas, which sounds like a dare and mostly pays off.

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Explore this film 10 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

A different kind of Christmas.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature snowy tree yard with fallen netted firs, a striped candy cane and a glowing lamppost.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is only the occasion.10/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for about half.10/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details4 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.6/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: incidentally.5/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

39/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Mostly warm in tone. Grim. A bittersweet ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

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Anna and the Apocalypse · Rental and purchase cost extra, separately from membership.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab). Sky and Rakuten TV data by JustWatch.

The story

About Anna and the Apocalypse

In a small Scottish town in the run-up to Christmas, a teenage girl is secretly planning a year of travel instead of university, to her father's dismay. The morning after the school Christmas show, she and her friends discover the town has been overrun by the undead. They sing, squabble and fight their way across town towards the school, where their families are sheltering, and not all of them make it.

The CineClaus verdict

A Scottish zombie musical set in the run-up to Christmas, which sounds like a dare and mostly pays off.

The songs are far catchier than a premise this silly deserves, and the young cast throw themselves at every number. It is uneven, and the tinsel thins out once the outbreak takes hold, so treat it as a Christmas-adjacent oddity and not a new tradition.

There is real heart under the gore, and it does not spare everyone. Ideal for a sixth-form end-of-term film night, or any adult who never quite got over the school musical.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: not for younger children: the violence is strong and gory, the swearing is frequent and characters you have grown fond of die, so we would save it for older teenagers and up.

BBFC advice: Strong violence, gore, language.

Content advice & accessibility
Where the advice comes from
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Young woman with long dark brown hair and gold hoop earrings, in a strapless top with a large peach flower detail, at a festival photo call.Ella Huntas Anna
Malcolm Cummingas John
Mark Benton
Bearded man with tousled hair and sunglasses pushed up on his head, wearing a dark jacket over a graphic t-shirt, seated at a convention table.Paul Kaye
Kirsty Strain
Directed by
John McPhail
Original score
Man with a swept-back quiff and short beard, in a denim jacket, turned in profile against a plain grey backdrop.Roddy Hart
Original score
Tommy Reilly
Writing & production credits
Writers
Alan McDonald
Ryan McHenry
Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

Every track on the soundtrack album, in album order.

Behind the music. Roddy Hart composed the score.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service. Album covers are each release's own, from the Cover Art Archive, credited under the cover.

wikidata.org ↗ (opens in a new tab) musicbrainz.org ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Anna and the Apocalypse. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapPort Glasgow

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Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
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A little more Anna and the Apocalypse

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

Music & sound

A classic Broadway musical shaped the boys' moves

McPhail had not seen West Side Story before joining the project. He loved it, and its influence shows in the choreography, including a skipping walk.

Read the story
On your next watchThe way the boys move in the big group number.

Source: Den of Geek interview with John McPhail ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

Releases and certificates
: In cinemas.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Good to know

Questions about Anna and the Apocalypse

Who wrote the songs in Anna and the Apocalypse?

Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly wrote the songs and the score. The soundtrack album was released in 2018.

Where was Anna and the Apocalypse filmed?

It was filmed around Inverclyde in Scotland, including Port Glasgow and Greenock.

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Elsewhere on CineClaus

More places to find Anna and the Apocalypse, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit