'Outside' director Carlo Ledesma on Netflix zombie film: 'It's about the monsters inside all of us'

“Outside" is Netflix Philippines’ first Filipino zombie film, but according to director Carlo Ledesma, its story is more than just about zombies.

“Ultimately, it's really not so much a monster movie of zombies, but rather it's about the monsters inside all of us,” he said during the film’s advanced screening and dialogue at the Grand Hyatt Manila on Wednesday.

A thrilling film about a family trying to stay safe during a zombie outbreak, “Outside” also presents the impact of trauma, how it is passed onto family members, and the horrors of the past.

Per Direk Carlo, he wanted to write a film that shows characters who are not perfect, with no good guys or bad guys.

“It shows a family that is not perfect, and it's really about a core unit of characters just trying to do the best for themselves and trying to survive,” he said.

“I wanted to kind of send the message also that, you know, we don't live in a perfect world. We don't have perfect families, and that's okay.”

He, too, wanted to show the characters wanting to fix themselves to be better people and, in turn, be better family members and have healthier relationships.

“What I want audiences to realize is that it's okay to take care of yourself first, so that you can be a better parent later on,” Direk Carlo said.

“And hopefully, when people watch the film, they'll come to realize that, you know, everything that their characters are doing have all the right motivation."

He added that it is unfortunate for some characters to eventually succumb to their trauma, but that there could also be somebody to break the traumatic cycle in families.

“Outside” premiered on Netflix worldwide on October 17.

The film follows the family of Francis (Sid Lucero), Iris (Beauty Gonzalez), Joshua (Marco Masa), and Lucas (Aiden Tyler Patdu), as they travel to a secluded mansion to be safe from a zombie outbreak in the Philippines. In the psychological thriller, the family also learns that they must deal with scarier monsters: their pasts. 

Direk Carlo is best known for directing the horror films “Sunod” and “The Tunnel.” He was also one of the writers of the Filipino animated live-action film, “Saving Sally.”

— CDC, GMA Integrated News