There are many types of zombies out there ranging from the shambling NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD zombie to the springing rage 28 DAYS LATER zombie.  There’s even the obedient, controlled FIDO zombie.  I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting the “eating disorder” zombie until watching ANNA.

ANNA is the first professional short film from Matthew and Kevin Forte, aka the Forte Brothers. It revolves solely around a young woman, Anna, deftly acted by Brandi Bravo, who even in death cannot control her urge to purge.  She’s tormented by this urge and even tries to die again and again and again, to no avail.  She kills, binges and purges with no relief in sight.  Her only wish is to die, once and for all, and stay dead.

This film is dark.  The anguish Anna experienced was almost tangible.  From the killing, to the eating, to the packing away leftovers in containers for later binges, her desire for some kind of control in the afterlife was heartbreaking.  The suicide attempts are harrowing as even wrapping her lips around the barrel of a gun and pulling the trigger brings no solace.

The production itself is unquestionably low budget, but that is not its detriment.  All technical aspects are well executed, specifically the moody score by Ben Roosevelt.  The gore and makeup effects by Rachel Wagner and Anthony Reyes are also impressive and sufficiently gruesome.  It works well as a short but definitely left me wanting to learn more about Anna and her struggles as a zombie with an eating disorder.