It’s that time of year again! Time to celebrate the Resurrection with a weeklong plunge into all things zombie! Here’s the history: In 2008, Dr. Girlfriend and I decided to spend a week or so each year marathoning through zombie films that we’d never seen before, and I would blog short reviews. And simple as that, the Easter Zombie Movie Marathon was born.
For the curious, here are links to 2008, 2009 (a bad year), 2010, 2011, 2012 (when we left the blog behind), 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The first film of Day Seven of the 2026 Easter Zombie Movie Marathon takes us to Indonesia for last year’s Netflix-produced The Elixir. Co-written and directed by Kimo Stamboel, this film takes a common trope in the zombie genre and provides an interesting twist in that our heroes are pretty much all useless losers who just happen to be lucky enough to have been born into a rich family. Even if that rich family brings about the end of the world.
Basically, this film is about what happens when rich people keep tinkering with medicine until they discover the fountain of youth – for a few hours anyway. Then, as one would expect, they turn into maniacal zombies, spewing black bile from their mouths as they scream, run, and attack everyone around them.
The Elixir isn’t the most original zombie film I’ve seen. It’s not even the most original film of this marathon, but it’s got heart and a ton of Netflix money. Netflix money can go a long way.
The film opens at a huge circumcision celebration that is crashed, literally, by a car driven by someone infected with a zombie virus. As this chaos unfolds, we jump back five hours earlier and learn that the ready-to-retire patriarch of a local herbal supplicant business has just sampled the latest prototype for their newest elixir. Magically, just a few minutes after ingesting the sample, Sadimin (Donny Damara) appears much younger, with no more gray hair or wrinkles, or even the need for his glasses. Of course, it’s not long before he breaks out in a terrible rash, convulses, and turns into a hideous monster.
What the film does nicely right out of the gate, is set up with a cast of characters who are literally useless. Kenes (Mikha Tambayong) is Sadimin’s daughter and Bambang (Marthino Lio) is his worthless son, both of whom are counting on Sadiman to sell their herbal supplement company so they can continue to mooch off the family money without really having to work for a living.
There’s family drama, as well, as Kenes’ childhood best friend Karina (Eva Celia Latjuba) has actually married Sadimin, causing all sorts of relationship and friendship problems that it would take a zombie apocalypse to resolve. They’re in luck!
Parallel to this storyline, we also have young star-crossed lovers Ningsih (Claresta Taufan Kusumarina) and her police officer boyfriend Rahman (Ardit Erwandha) in the mix to provide even more emotional collateral once the zombie chaos begins. Oh, and before I forget, we also have a child in danger as Kenes’ son Raihan (Varren Arianda Calief) finds himself separated from his mom, being protected by Karina and his dad, Rudi (Dimas Anggara), who is also worthless.
The Elixir isn’t breaking any new ground, but with all that Netflix money being thrown at them, what we get is an exciting, visceral, extremely gory zombie film that holds up to scrutiny. The stakes are high and suitably established. The violence is very satisfying if you’re looking for a gore fix. Flesh is torn, skulls are exploded, and blood is sprayed everywhere by the gallon. There’s also a nice sequence where some of our survivors in police armor are surrounded by a horde of the undead that is extremely effective, using overhead shots to really emphasize the danger.
We also get an entertaining use of both sudden thunderstorms and fireworks as distractions that help to elevate the film’s visual language. This is a very pretty film on every level. The zombies are disgusting, spewing black blood from their mouths and sprinting toward each new victim with an athlete’s vigor.
I mean, seriously. These Asian zombie films spare no effort at casting actors who are willing to commit their entire bodies to the roles. These zombies are throwing themselves off of trucks, hurling through doors, and devoting their entire selves to the performances. The Elixir might not change the world or even really expand the zombie genre (outside of its geographical influence), but it’s still an energetic and enthusiastic entry that is definitely worth a look.