Netflix's DAYBREAK is a Huge Surprise Hit in its First Five Episodes

"Daybreak" at first glance is a series easy to be dismissed as a tired trove of apocalyptic tropes. A series not worth experiencing as modern audiences have grown exhausted with all the zombie-infested, end-of-the-world, post-apocalyptic scenarios that have been used to death in both television and films. Surprisingly, "Daybreak" finds a way to make these topics feel fresh and rejuvenated and story that was a thrill ride full of intrigue, mystery, surprises, and whole lot of laughs in its first five episodes.

The city of Glendale, California, is populated by marauding gangs of jocks, gamers, the 4-H Club, and other fearsome tribes who are kicking ass as they fight to survive in the wake of a nuclear blast who have turned adults into zombie-like creatures called ghoulies. We follow Josh Wheeler (Colin Ford), a totally average teenage nobody, who's on a mission to find his missing girlfriend Sam Dean (Sophie Simnett). He is joined by the pacifist samurai Wesley Fists (Austin Crute) and the highly unstable kid genius Angelica Green (Alyvia Alyn Lind) as they navigate this real-life and dangerous teenage wasteland.

We'll have to be honest. We didn't expect much from "Daybreak" when we first heard about it. It's premise of mixing teenage angst with zombies seemed outlandish - even corny. But the first five episodes was a complete blast. In fact, "Daybreak" could be the biggest surprise of all the Netflix Originals we have seen this year. It was fun, frenetic, and an unadulterated version of a teenage wasteland that completely blows "The Walking Dead" out of the ballpark. At the helm of all of this was its overall presentation having its main characters narrate and even break the fourth wall. Each episode featured one or more of its main characters showcasing their current struggles and past lives before the nuclear apocalypse happened seeking to explain their motivations and who, why, and how they transformed. This is crucial as it gave equal depth to each character even those that are supporting in nature. This also meant that the acting was solid with Colin Ford and Alyvia Alyn Lind leading the cast pretty well. But the first five episodes were not perfect. The first half of "Daybreak" had its own issues specifically with some predictable revelations and some slow down when it came to moving its overall plot. Finally, it's cinematography was also one of its key features. It's highly-stylized but in a fun and interesting way. The closest we could describe it is that it feels like the 2010 hit film "Kick-Ass". It's unrelenting and violent when it wants to be while still maintaining a funny tone. No doubt it's awesome company to be compared with.     

"Daybreak" globally launches on Netflix on October 24, 2019. Go to www.netflix.com/daybreak to find out more about the series.