Director Zack Snyder returns to the zombie genre once again with his latest Netflix movie “Army of the Dead,” a horror/action hybrid that crosses elements of both “Ocean’s 11” and “28 Days Later.” Though Snyder has not shied away from political and social commentary in his previous films, “Army of the Dead” will reflect on the current border wall controversy.
Speaking with The Associated Press, Snyder said the film reflects the current political realities through its use of refugee camps and walls designed to keep people in and out.
“I felt like to really do the genre correctly, social commentary is at its heart, and at its roots really,” he said.
Snyder said the presence of the wall in the movie was initially a plot device that evolved into a piece of social commentary.
“We were building a wall. We were creating these refugee camps,” he added.“We needed to kind of use those things to hold up a mirror to ourselves … Once you erect a giant wall around a city, you really find yourself referencing all kinds of laws that have been created for all different reasons. And I think your awareness of those things really is important.”
German actor Matthias Schweighofer, who stars alongside Dave Bautista in the film, said that his experiences in East Germany (where a wall was erected to keep people in) made him yearn for a world without borders.
“I was born behind a wall in the east of Germany and the wall came down and I always thought as I traveled through the world, ‘I don’t want a wall back in my life. I don’t want any borders back,’” he said.
Snyder has largely remained an elusive political figure throughout his film career, leading some to believe he was a secret conservative due to his films’ overwhelming popularity with conservative audiences. Speaking with The Guardian, however, Snyder said he never meant to push a right-wing message and that he votes Democrat.
“I vote Democrat! I’m a true lover of individual rights,” he said. “I’ve always been a super-strong advocate of women’s rights and a woman’s right to choose, and I’ve always been surrounded by powerful women. And, of course, I’m a huge advocate for the rights of all ethnicities and every walk of life. I would say I’m a pretty liberal guy. I want to make sure everyone’s heard and everyone feels included. I don’t have a rightwing political agenda. People see what they want to see. For me, that was not certainly the point.”
Snyder also staunchly advocated for mass vaccinations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I hope the vaccinated people are winning. I wanted to be vaccinated immediately,” he said. “I would have done a trial, any time. Even my friends were like, wow, you’re really aggressive. I’m like, I am very aggressive. Very aggressively ready to get vaccinated and not die. In LA County, which was a disaster during Covid, we should be at 80% vaccinated next month. I tell friends of mine living abroad: just come here, you get vaccinated immediately. They don’t care. They’ll vaccinate anybody. You don’t need ID. They’ll vaccinate my dog.”