You’re with her, and she’s wonderful, but you don’t know how to tell her. The time isn’t right, or you let the moment pass. You wish she just knew, and you hope someday she will. Then, without warning, she’s gone. She’s gone and you’ve failed her and she’s not coming back.

Until she does. Somehow, after the divide between you seemed permanent and uncrossable, she is with you again. She is still wonderful, and she doesn’t hold your weakness against you. Suddenly you have another chance to tell her, and to show her, to make her feel your love.

Second chances like this are rare. You know you need to seize it with both hands. You vow to let nothing stand in your way, not even the fact that a week ago she was definitely dead.

‘Life After Beth’ offers a novel twist on the zombie movie formula – a zom-rom-com that’s not as saccharine as ‘Warm Bodies’ but also not as unrelentingly bleak as ‘The Walking Dead’. The world is coming apart, sure, but young love uber alles.

The tone is gently amusing and heartbreaking throughout, and that’s no small trick. The cast is uniformly strong, but the glue that holds this peculiar birdhouse together is the weird and affecting performance of Aubrey Plaza as the titular zombie. She’s somehow sweet, lovable and rotted through all at once.

If you like zombies, or doomed emo-kids in love, or giggles gently wrung from your cringing chest, get on this movie.

P.S. Seeing this movie reminded me that we are criminally underutilizing Molly Shannon. Fix it, Hollywood.

P.P.S. Best lines in the film – ‘I ate a guy. What do you want from me? Zombies eat guys.’ and ‘Lavender.’