Zhabibi

When the beef between the bride and groom’s parents goes sour (literally!), and threatens to disrupt a typical Arab wedding, a contaminated raw meat delicacy causes a zombie outbreak that no one sees coming.

FORMAT REFERENCES: Feature Film, 90 min
GENRE: Dark Comedy, Elevated Zombie, Social
STATUS: Advanced Stage Development
LANGUAGES: English, Arabic
ATTACHED TALENTS: Fuad Halwani (Writer) | Talal Selhami (Director)

Synopsis

Maysa and Toufic have been planning their wedding in the most terrible circumstances: a financial meltdown, a global pandemic, and parents in bitter opposition to the union. At any cost, the couple decides to go through with it in a remote resort location somewhere in the Lebanese countryside. The fraké (a Lebanese delicacy made of raw meat) was imported specially for the wedding by the bride’s mother. Little do the guests, staff and hosts know something much more sinister lies dormant in the meat.

As the wedding is underway, Ali the head waiter urges everyone to be done with the ceremony before sundown as the generators will cut and complete darkness will ensue due to Lebanon’s power outages. Maysa and Toufic build up their courage for the wedding vows when strange behavior among the guests grabs their attention. Uncle Zouhair (who devoured all the fraké) is drooling uncontrollably with a deadpan look on his face. The dancing guests move their bodies in unnatural ways, and no one seems to be satisfied by the lavish buffet offered by the refined Lina.

Soon enough, but almost too late, Teymour, the groom’s younger sibling diagnoses the situation as none other than a zombie outbreak. Most of the guests and family members are contaminated. The staff has fled with the guests’ cars and the sun is about to set, leaving everyone to their fate. Will the happy couple make it out in time? Undead or alive?