To call Shaun of the Dead a crown jewel of British cinema is, honestly, selling it short. Edgar Wright’s 2004 genre-bending masterpiece isn’t just a rom-com, or a love letter to classic horror – it’s a film that has somehow become more relevant as time has passed. As it returns to theatres for its 20th anniversary, it remains a timeless piece on growing up, sorting your life out, and fighting off hordes of zombies while nursing a hangover. You know, the usual.

At the heart of it all is Shaun (Simon Pegg), a twentysomething slacker whose life is more brain-dead than the zombies he eventually battles. He sells fridges to make ends meet, and his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) dumps him less than 20 minutes into the film, setting up its underlying message: grow up or get left behind – both literally and metaphorically.

Of course, Shaun’s plan to get his life together is somewhat derailed by a full-blown zombie apocalypse. Wright brilliantly merges two worlds that shouldn’t go together: the mundane reality of adult life and the absurd chaos of a zombie outbreak. As Shaun navigates this, we get an exploration of dead-end jobs, strained relationships, and wasted potential, all wrapped in buckets of blood and fantastic, classic, one-liners.

Wright brilliantly merges two worlds that shouldn’t go together

What makes Shaun of the Dead a standout is how it sneaks in a sharp critique of modern life amidst the gory, undead shenanigans. Shaun’s daily routine – work, pub, home – feels as monotonous as the zombies he faces. Wright shows us that the real enemy isn’t the undead, it’s apathy. The real horror is realising you’ve spent your entire twenties in a perpetual loop of mediocrity. His transformation from a directionless manchild to a reluctant hero isn’t just prompted by the zombies, but by the dawning realisation that he needs to invest in the relationships around him. This shift makes the film more than just a parody; it’s a coming-of-age story disguised as a zombie flick.

Whether you swap the zombies out for office drones or London commuters, they represent the drudgery of a life without purpose. And while the film is rife with satirical homages to zombie movies (even the famous Night of the Living Dead line: ‘We’re coming to get you, Barbara!’), it’s also rooted in its own time. Released in 2004, it arrived at a moment of cultural anxiety, with the Iraq War, Afghanistan War, and SARS pandemic rattling the public. It’s a surprisingly poignant take on collective fear and uncertainty – masked in zombie guts, of course.

What really brings Shaun of the Dead to life (pun intended) is its cast. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who had already worked together on Spaced, are comedy gold as Shaun and his lazy, loveable best friend Ed. Their bromance is so authentic that it brings a weird, almost homoerotic tension that feels both hilarious and endearing. Pegg has said ‘Shaun was basically me,’ explaining that the complicated relationship between Shaun and his stepdad (played by Bill Nighy) mirrored his own real-life tensions.

The real enemy isn’t the undead, it’s apathy

As an added bonus, the rest of the cast is stacked with 2000s British comedy icons. There’s Lucy Davis and Martin Freeman (before his Sherlock and The Hobbit fame) from The Office, Peter Serafinowicz and Jessica Hynes from Spaced, and Dylan Moran of Black Books. Even Matt Lucas makes a quick appearance, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in the zombie crowd.

The film is loaded with Easter eggs and foreshadowing that you’ll catch on repeat viewings. For instance, Ed’s seemingly random speech at the pub where he predicts their night out? It’s actually a perfect outline of how the plot will unfold: ‘A bloody Mary first thing, a bite at the King’s Head, a couple at The Little Princess, stagger back here and bang, back at the bar for shots.’ (Translation: Mary the ASDA checkout girl becomes a zombie, Philip gets bitten in the head, they save Liz, and fight off zombies at the pub.)

With rumours of future projects from Pegg and Wright, fans are eagerly waiting for the next instalment of whatever this dynamic duo comes up with. Pegg has hinted that working with Wright again is ‘a question of when, not if.’ In the meantime, let’s all head to the Winchester, and have a nice cold pint.