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The Cured
Movie

The Cured

2017 • Unknown

Woke Score
4
out of 10

Plot

What happens when the undead return to life? In a world ravaged for years by a virus that turns the infected into zombie-like cannibals, a cure is at last found and the wrenching process of reintegrating the survivors back into society begins.

Overall Series Review

The Cured is a post-apocalyptic drama using the zombie genre as an allegory for real-world social and political issues, centering on prejudice, reintegration, and systemic oppression. The plot explores the tension between the 'cured' (former infected who remember their cannibalistic acts) and the uninfected society that shuns and fears them, treating them as second-class citizens. The movie frames the cured as a marginalized minority, denied civil liberties, and forced into menial labor, leading to an underground militant movement seeking equality through violence. The core narrative is a sustained critique of an established Western society (Ireland) that is fearful, xenophobic, and willing to resort to extreme measures like state-sanctioned euthanasia against a segment of its population. The film focuses on the moral conflict of the main male character, Senan, who struggles with his personal guilt and the radicalization of his friend Conor, while his sister-in-law Abbie serves as a moral compass and protective mother figure.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7/10

The entire narrative functions as a sustained allegory for systemic oppression and marginalization. The 'Cured' are treated as a sub-human, oppressed minority, segregated, denied rights, and subjected to violence by the general populace and government forces. The plot exists to dramatize the political and social issues of prejudice and the demand for civil liberties by an 'othered' group.

Oikophobia8/10

The film heavily critiques the established social and governmental institutions of the Western-identified country, Ireland. The society is depicted as fundamentally xenophobic, prejudiced, and corrupt, willing to plan the extermination of 25% of the resistant population and treating the successfully cured like criminals. The main conflict shows the collapse of civil order due to the xenophobia of the 'home culture,' directly framing the established institutions as fundamentally flawed and contributing to the chaos.

Feminism3/10

The primary female character, Abbie, is a journalist and single mother, providing a moral center and protection for her son. Her role is functional and strong, showing compassion toward her cured brother-in-law and actively defending her family. The film does not feature a 'Mary Sue' character or explicitly push anti-natalist messages; motherhood and family protection are presented as a source of strength. The main political and physical conflict, however, is driven by the internal and external struggles of the male characters.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative does not center alternative sexualities, deconstruct the nuclear family structure, or focus on gender ideology. The core conflict is entirely focused on the socio-political status of the 'Cured' and the traditional family unit of a mother and her son is the main source of the male protagonist's moral grounding.

Anti-Theism1/10

There is no explicit or implied hostility toward religion. The film's primary moral and philosophical questions revolve around individual guilt, collective responsibility, and political power dynamics following a societal trauma. Faith or religious institutions are absent from the central conflict.