One night, Sam attends a raucous apartment party in Paris. But, pressured to show up against his will and not feeling festive, the dejected Sam heads to a private room and falls asleep. The next morning, everything has changed: The walls are stained with blood, there isn’t a living soul in sight, and the dead have taken over the streets. Barricading himself inside, he hunkers down for safety, anticipating a long haul. As the undead congregate outside, Sam passes the lonely months by entertaining himself however possible. But there’s only so long he can hold on to his sanity—and he may not be truly alone.

In this adaptation of French author Pit Agarmen’s novel, writer-director Dominique Rocher constructs an intimate portrait of survival. The Night Eats the World features plenty of zombies, sure, but it also allows the great Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie (Oslo, August 31st) to take center stage, supported by a memorably undead performance from Denis Lavant. Lie uses his character’s one-versus-many survival tactics to explore the familiar feelings of extreme loneliness associated with big-city living and emotional fragility.

—Matt Barone