Shaun Of The Dead- Narrative Resolutions



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The final scene of Shaun of the dead proposes a compromise between Shaun and Liz which enables their relationship to work. However it's important to note that Davs and Diane have to be out of the picture for the relationship to work and for this compromise to be made. Additionally, Ed to an extent. More importantly it can be seen that the disruption of the zombie horror allowed for the resolution of the rom-com. 

The last scene begins with a repeated scene of Shaun stumbling into the living room yawning like a zombie, only this time instead of Ed sitting on the couch it's Liz.  In terms of mise-en-scene, there's been a huge compromise. The room has been tidied up, a floral painting is hanging on the wall and a pink pillow and some fluffy throws have been added to the couch. Yet the walls still remain the same shade of blue and the same posters are still hanging up. It's clearly a compromise for both Liz and Shaun. In terms of dialogue we can see that Liz has retreated from her upper-middle class standards by laying out the plan for the day which includes going to the pub for drinks. Furthermore Shaun "pops out to the garden for a bit" which means playing some video games with zombie Ed. However this is also clearly a compromise as Shaun seems to have sectioned off that part of his life and spends time with Ed a lot more infrequently in comparison to the  beginning of the film. 

The rom-com resolution adheres to the genre convention- a happy ending where both parties come to a compromise. In terms of the zombie horror resolution the global pandemic is kept under control and utilised for comic effect. All of this combined results in a wonderful and well executed rom-com-com.

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