I am not a fan of musicals, and the ones I do enjoy tend to have a thick coat of irony on top; _Anna and the Apocalypse_ does not have such a coat, it is fully committed to what it is.
All of that being said, I really enjoy this movie, and it is a must watch for me every Christmas.
The movie has a lot on its plate with being a Christmas movie, a zombie movie, and a musical. Within that juggling act, Christmas is the least relevant part to the movie - but it does provide us with “It’s That Time of Year,” which deserves to be a heavily-played song every December. Seeing as how the zombie/musical levels are in check, I could have used more Yule in there. Oh well.
Another part that seems weird to me is how this got an R... I would put this in a very safe PG-13 lane, even by zombie-Christmas-musical standards.
I think anyone who liked _Shaun of the Dead_ (in terms of zomcom) or _Stage Fright_ (2014 - in terms of horror musical), would like this - though it is not as good as either of those movies.
What _A&tA_ excels at are the songs: “Hollywood Ending,” and “Turning My Life Around” are fucking bangers! If you’re not singing and moving around during those songs, something is wrong with you, and that’s coming from me.